Josh Fox Quotes

Powerful Josh Fox for Daily Growth

About Josh Fox

Joshua 'Josh' Fox is an acclaimed American filmmaker, environmental activist, and playwright, born on February 16, 1971, in Brooklyn, New York City. He grew up in the small town of Maplewood, New Jersey, where he developed a deep connection with nature and a keen interest in environmental issues. Fox's early work was primarily in theater, writing plays that dealt with social and political themes. However, it was his documentary films that brought him widespread recognition. His breakthrough came with the release of "Gasland" (2010), an Academy Award-nominated documentary about hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and its impact on communities across America. The film sparked a national conversation on fracking, leading to a ban in several states and countries. In 2012, Fox released "Gasland Part II," which further explored the consequences of fracking, focusing on the health impacts on communities and the industry's influence on politics. His next significant work, "How to Let Go of the World and Love All The Things Climate Can't Change" (2016), delved into the global effects of climate change and the resilience of communities facing environmental crises. Throughout his career, Fox has been recognized for his courageous activism and impactful storytelling. He has received numerous awards, including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming. His works are not just films; they are powerful calls to action, urging viewers to take a stand against environmental degradation and promote sustainability. Fox continues his activism through his non-profit organization, the International Coalition for Recognition of Indigenous Rights (ICRIR). He lives in New York City with his family, where he continues to create compelling stories that inspire change.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"We're fighting not just for our own homes but for every home in this country."

This quote by Josh Fox emphasizes a collective solidarity in environmental activism. By saying "we're fighting not just for our own homes", he signifies that the preservation of individual homes (in the broader sense, including living spaces, communities, and even the planet) is interconnected. He implies that the protection of the environment and natural resources is critical for every community across the country, suggesting a unified effort towards sustainable future for all Americans.


"If it's too loud, you're out of range."

This quote by Josh Fox emphasizes the idea that if one cannot comprehend or fully appreciate something due to excessive noise or complexity, they are likely too far removed from its intended meaning or purpose. In other words, simplicity and clarity are essential for effective communication or understanding.


"Fracking is not a bridge fuel. It's a dead end."

The quote by Josh Fox, "Fracking is not a bridge fuel. It's a dead-end," implies that natural gas extraction through fracking (hydraulic fracturing) is not a transitional or temporary solution towards sustainable energy but rather an unsustainable method with no long-term potential. Fracking is criticized for its environmental impact, such as water pollution and increased greenhouse gas emissions, making it an unsuitable choice for the future of energy production as we transition towards renewable sources.


"The future is not something we inherit from the past, it is something we create together."

This quote by Josh Fox emphasizes that our future isn't a predestined outcome but rather a collective creation. It suggests that every individual has a role in shaping the world to come, and encourages collaboration, cooperation, and mutual responsibility among people in determining the course of human history. In essence, it underscores the power we hold as a community to create the future we desire.


"We have to think about what kind of world we want our children and grandchildren to live in."

This quote by Josh Fox emphasizes the importance of considering the future impact of our current actions, particularly as they pertain to the environment and societal structures, for the benefit of subsequent generations. It encourages individuals to think beyond their immediate needs and priorities, fostering a sense of responsibility towards shaping a world that is sustainable, just, and thriving for future generations.


I don't believe we're only motivated by our own self-interests. Often out of crisis comes this enormous wellspring of generosity and motivation.

- Josh Fox

Own, Crisis, Motivated, Generosity

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

- Josh Fox

Rest, Dirty, Natural, Fossil Fuel

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.

- Josh Fox

Bad, Fuel, Important Thing, Fossil Fuel

I'm a night owl, and luckily my profession supports that. The best ideas come to me in the dead of night.

- Josh Fox

Night, Owl, Profession, Luckily

The first line in the first 'Gasland' is: 'I'm not a pessimist. I've always had a great deal of faith in people that we won't succumb to frenzy or rage or greed. That we'll figure out a solution without destroying the things that we love.' I have not lost that sense.

- Josh Fox

Love, Deal, Line, Succumb

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.

- Josh Fox

Media, Independent, Some, Beholden

As a journalist, you have to have multiple sources and verifiable science, and when you've done that and satisfied the most skeptical voice in your head, you have an obligation to ride through the streets - let people know what's going on.

- Josh Fox

Voice, Through, Sources, Verifiable

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.

- Josh Fox

Values, Goes, Follows, Civic

What we've got is the wholesale embrace of fracking domestically, internationally and for export. And this couldn't be further from what we really need to do to address climate change.

- Josh Fox

Embrace, Need, Address, Internationally

I've been arrested three times. I don't like getting arrested, but it's not so bad when it's an organized form of nonviolent disobedience. It's something appealing to a higher law.

- Josh Fox

Law, Been, Arrested, Disobedience

'Memorial Day' is about 'spring break' girls-gone-wild culture which is the seedy underbelly of our American Puritanism, the inverse side of the coin. It's also about how we forcefully exported that culture and then pretended to not know what we were doing.

- Josh Fox

American, Doing, About, Memorial

We're not living in a society that science actually dominates the conversation. We're living in a situation where some science is allowed and a lot of it's about policy. And when your science runs into a policy roadblock, all of a sudden the science starts to disappear.

- Josh Fox

Living, Some, Allowed, Runs

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

- Josh Fox

Away, Taken, Journalism

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.

- Josh Fox

Play, Anybody, Use, Provisions

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 $250 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.

- Josh Fox

Political, Fact, Industry, Reporting

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.

- Josh Fox

Environmental, Like, Spill, Reporting

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.

- Josh Fox

Wealthy, Diminishing, Our, Dissatisfied

I love driving. I still drive a 1993 Toyota Camry. I do want to get an electric car, but it's less of a carbon footprint if you keep your old, fuel-efficient car on the road than if you say 'build me a whole new car.'

- Josh Fox

Love, Your, Whole, Footprint

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

- Josh Fox

Communist, Anti-American, Extremist

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.

- Josh Fox

Think, I Think, Questioned, Unprecedented

I love cooking. My Italian mother is a genius cook, and I picked that up from her. I make my own sauce, which takes four hours, from a recipe that's been refined over many years. I won't tell anybody what it is.

- Josh Fox

Love, Been, Anybody, Refined

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.

- Josh Fox

Think, I Think, Implications, Backyard

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.

- Josh Fox

Think, I Think, Very, Transition

History is often best told from the ground, out of a car window or in someone's kitchen, not through some huge production mechanism or grand framing device.

- Josh Fox

Through, Some, Framing, Device

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

- Josh Fox

Light, Due, Else, Laugh

First of all, the idea that natural gas is better than coal is a lie, especially when it comes to fracking for natural gas. It is a lie that was bought into by a lot of Democrats and a lot of environmentalists because I think they wanted to have a win against something; against coal.

- Josh Fox

Against, Idea, I Think, First Of All

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.

- Josh Fox

Made, Largest, Backed, Corporations

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.

- Josh Fox

Asking, Next, Part, Camera

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.

- Josh Fox

Toxic, Public Health, Laws, Legislator

People treat citizens like they're some kind of unreliable source, but citizens are data. They are a data set.

- Josh Fox

Treat, Some, Set, Unreliable

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