Gasland this Friday and EAM kickoff!

Happy April! Many of you know that April is Environmental Awareness Month, an excellent time to consider how you use and how you affect our environment, and also a great time to give back! Check out http://deq.gov.mp/ for a list of EAM events taking place all month. 

To kick things off, First Friday Films will be showing the documentary “Gasland” this Friday, April 5^th at 6:30pm in American Memorial Park’s theatre. 

The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. But is fracking safe? When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled nearby Pennsylvania town reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND. 

Fracking has been an important subject in the mainland environmental movement, but how does it relate to Saipan? Andrew Ashburn from the CNMI Energy Office will give a brief presentation before the film about where our energy comes from and what the costs and benefits of energy use are for our island. 

First Friday Films is a partnership between American Memorial Park, the Division of Environmental Quality, Coastal Resources Management and the Humanities Council with support from other organizations. This particular film is sponsored by CRM. As always, our film events are free and open to the public. For planning purposes, this event will run about 90 minutes.

Stay tuned for more information and short videos to check out this month to celebrate Earth!