Australian politician sets river on fire to protest fracking

Source: Agence France-Presse

Australian politician sets river on fire to protest fracking
April 24, 2016

Sydney (AFP) - An Australian politician has set fire to a river to draw attention to methane gas he says is seeping into the water due to fracking, with the dramatic video attracting more than two millions views.

Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham used a kitchen lighter to ignite bubbles of methane in the Condamine River in Queensland, about 220 kilometres (140 miles) west of Brisbane.

The video shows him jumping back in surprise, using an expletive as flames shoot up around the dinghy.

"Unbelievable. A river on fire. Don't let it burn the boat," Buckingham, from New South Wales, said in the footage posted on Facebook on Friday evening, which has been viewed more than two million times.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/australian-politician-sets-river-fire-protest-fracking-064640159.html?nhp=1