Blergh. I apologize in advance for my intellectual prudery — I realize that Jimmy Fallon’s show is meant to be lighthearted, late-night comedy — but that’s precisely what irks me about this. Thanks to advances in the natural gas industry, largely made possible by the decades-old practice of hydraulic fracturing, the world is witnessing amazing environmental and economic achievements. The far-reaching impacts of this evolving industry are potentially enormous, and when any Americans who watched this show are likely going to walk away from it with an argument against fracking in their heads, the substance of which amounts to arguably humorous sexual innuendo… I just can’t let that stand without saying something.

I watched the fracking-relevant clip of Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon interviewing with Mr. Fallon before their little protest ditty (it’s the second clip here), and learned that Mr. Lennon has started a website, ArtistsAgainstFracking.com. It’s meant to be a portal to point you toward resources like the (widely debunked, journalistically misleading, and highly melodramatic) documentary Gasland from certifiable activist Josh Fox. And just look at all of those awesome artists, celebrities, and musicians who are standing against fracking, too — all of this compelling persuasion is just overwhelming me! Farther down the page, they query: ‘How can they do this; isn’t this against the Safe Drinking Water Act?’ Answer: Because not even the impossibly zealous, ideology-driven Environmental Protection Agency can find a solid reason to outlaw fracking.

Environmentalists tend to loathe on principle any industrial practice that even appears to ‘violate’ Mother Earth, but if they’d pull their heads out of the eco-trendy sand and bother to do some actual research, they might come to realize that not only is the natural gas industry creating jobs, creating wealth, and revitalizing economically-distraught communities; but as Jazz posted earlier, it’s very likely helping us reduce our carbon emissions. For heaven’s sake, greenies — quit shooting yourselves in the foot and assuming that environmental quality and economic prosperity are mutually exclusive. They aren’t.