“A lot of people are deeply dissatisfied by the diminishing control they have over their lives, because of the way our system of government is set up, to cater to the powerful, cater to the wealthy, cater to the corporations, and not to the individual American citizen.”

“According to the oil and gas industry and their proponents, I am a communist, terrorist, Nazi, Russian-sympathizing, anti-American, arsonist, extremist.”

“Culture is the air we breathe all around us.”

“Every single dollar spent lobbying a legislator on behalf of oil and gas is a toxic dollar that undermines public health and safety laws that protect Americans. That's contamination of the political system.”

“I love documentary because it's alive.”

“I think 'Gasland' is the doorway for a lot of people to see something happening in their backyard and realize the national and global implications.”

“I think that the world is in the middle of a huge transition that we have to make to renewable energy. We have to transition away from fossil fuels very, very quickly.”

“I think the audience know which films are aimed at their pocket, and which films are aimed at their soul. There are a lot of films out there made by people who are genuinely trying to make a change.”

“I think we're in an era of unprecedented dominance by corporations. I think people understand that deeply; I don't think that's even questioned.”

“I think what we all have to do is make this big leap towards renewables. And it has to be a solution where you're actually building the answer; and it has to be built faster than the natural gas industry can build their answer.”

“I'm a theater guy and a filmmaker. So when my community was thrown up in the air by the gas industry, the way I could contribute was to do something in the film world. I never thought it would be a big deal at all.”

“In the U.S. you have a system of lobbying and influence on our policy and law makers which is incredibly pronounced. The gas industry spent USD250 million getting an exemption from our Safe Water Act. Every one of those dollars is toxic; a contaminant in our political system. It disrupts the normal flow of justice, science, fact and reporting.”

“Independent documentary isn't beholden to some of the interests that the mainstream media are influenced by. It's a pathway to renegade, independent reporting in an in-depth, investigative fashion, and it can do so with a compassionate lens; it allows people to speak in a way that is more human than the mainstream media approach.”

“Journalism is irrepressible. It can't be taken away.”

“Natural gas is a dirty fossil fuel like the rest of them.”

“The BP spill was the greatest environmental catastrophe in U.S. history. Yet somehow, gas companies like BP and Halliburton ran interference on reporting that story.”

“The problem is that everywhere the gas drilling industry goes, a trail of water contamination, air pollution, health concerns and betrayal of basic American civic and community values follows.”

“The Safe Drinking Water Act, the safety provisions of the Clean Water Acts, the Clean Air Act, the Superfund Law - the gas industry is exempt from all these basic environmental and worker protections. They don't have to disclose the chemicals they use. They don't have to play by the same rules as anybody else.”

“Thousands upon thousands of people across America and many more across the globe are suffering at the hands of the oil and gas industry.”

“Watching a film should feel like you just tore a hole out of the air and the void caught fire.”

“We all know that we have to get off of fossil fuels. And we know that the world is going in that direction. And we have to do it fast.”

“We have to start processing what we're really made of in America. American character is not dead. American integrity and honesty are not dead. When we're backed up against the wall against the largest corporations in the history of corporations, it's there.”

“We need policy change, and the most important thing people can do is to contribute and participate in the political process. We have to vote climate change deniers and people who will create subsidies for the fossil fuel industry out of office. We have to protest when bad decisions are being made about fracking or tar sands.”

“When you can light your water on fire due to methane contamination in your ground water, what else can you do but laugh?”

“With moviemaking, the audience always has to keep asking, 'What happens next?' If you have the wrong piece of music over a scene, people aren't going to get the scene. If you have the wrong camera angle, people aren't going to pay attention. That's as much a part of the process as getting people to talk to you.”

“You know, there's a difference between politicians and leaders. Politicians read poll numbers and compromise. Leaders do what's morally right.”