CSI fractures perceptions of natural gas

From the Pickens Plan to the American Gas Association, the natural gas industry has invested a lot of money to promote "clean natural gas." But if you're going to advertise something as clean and green (without qualification), you need to make sure it's clean and green all the way through.

One method of extracting natural gas that has led some to dispute natural gas' clean image is hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking,' which has been said to have significant environmental and human health concerns. The issue was front and center this week on the latest episode of CSI. Here's a preview of the November 11, 2010 CSI episode, 'Fracked'.

View here: http://soc.li/YAMBMSO

The synopsis of the episode says: "Two men are murdered right before exposing a natural gas company for poisoning residents in a farming town, and the CSIs must discover who is responsible for their deaths." Watch the full episode here. According to Nielsen, 12-13 million viewers spent an hour hearing that message. It will take a lot of advertising dollars to make up for that, but that's the cost when your actions don't match your ads.

Nathan is the director of public relations for POET, the largest producer of biofuels in the world. He is also a digital advocate of sustainability and corporate social responsibility.He writes exclusively for Greenway Communique