"The End of Suburbia"

Hello,Recently I saw the documentary "The End of Suburbia". I may have to see it again, but after viewing it once I must say it was a great 1 hour and 20 minutes.The crux of the documentary, I believe, was that our over-dependance on fossil fuels, especially oil, is our achilles heel, and, continuing to live in energy-inefficient suburbs, in which millions of Americans must travel long distances to and from work, the grocery store, school, etc. consume energy in disproportionate numbers to the rest of the world, have the products which we consume travel great distances to reach us, is perfectly unsustainable and doomed to collapse like a house of cards.The information they provided was from various sources, including, I believe, the former energy advisor for Vice-President Cheney. Their predictions for a drastic change in the unsustainable "American Way of Life" was stimulating, yet also disheartening. Not that I agree with our over-consumptive, complacent way-of-life, but that we (Americans) have not and continue to delay this change away from fossil fuels, especially oil, and from a suburban, two-car garage, two suv-driving, three television-owning lifestyle.I am offering this topic for debate for the purpose of hearing others' opinions on the matter. Have you seen the film? Did you find it educational or an eighty-minute appeal to fear? If you found it provocative, then why? if not, why not?Thanks for your time,
BrianP.S. I do not remember if this film has already had a topic devoted to it. If it has, then, my bad.

you could perhaps tell us the network that showed it, no? Better yet, give us a link to something about the movie?I'd like to talk about the "end of suburbia", but . . . (for the above)

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Hi Kuresu,http://www.endofsuburbia.com/This link provides information about the movie. There are also torrents for it too, if you're comfortable with that. Sounds pretty much like all the other doco's, etc, out there on the subject.Kakariki

here is a google video link.

Nice to see that the Malthusians are still alive and well.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin Franklin

Haha, you beat me to it.

Hi InfixionI haven't seen the documentary but I remember it caused a bit of a stir here when it was released, much the same as An Inconvenient Truth is now. Sometimes I feel these films are a bit over-done, and perhaps counter-productive, in that the audience might think its too theatrical or feel overwhelmed at the state of the environment/world/etc... All the same, it's good these issues are being raised in the mainstream media.Incidentally, the NZ government recently released some details of proposed measures to deal with a major oil supply disturbance. The first being voluntary restraints. Ho hum.Kakariki

Hey Subbie. It's great you have an opinion on the subject, but why do you feel the documentary was an eighty-minute appeal to fear?

Hi kakariki, nice avatar. One thing I did notice about the doc. was that, I believe, there were no interviews with those who disagreed with their position, no alternative view-points. I agree.

I think Brazil is a great example of a country reducing they're dependance on foreign oil and highy investing in Alcohol as fuel.

I couldn't agree more; Brazil is a great example. What's interesting with this article is that it was published in 1979. I guess I'm just disappointed with the US energy policy.Here's a website. The Brazilian National Alcohol Programme - NASA/ADS

dude, I just noticed that you're from where Weta workshop is (as well as the lord of the rings work). awesome.

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that sounds about right.my history teacher in high school used to work for the tobacco industry, and the company he worked for had a factory in brazil, which he often had to travel to. And while down there, he got to experience the knocking of those E85 (or perhaps E80?) fuel.yeah, US energy policy sucks . . .

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hehe, yes, a great institution - great for the local economy and great for employing local talented folk, not to mention what it's done for animation.and back to the topic...I find it so frustrating that the "energy policy makers" seem to be deliberately ignoring the obvious. I mean it's fairly obvious oil won't last forever and whatsmore (and more importantly IMO) there is overwhelming scientific evidence to support the relationship between the burning of fossil fuels and global warming. Quite simple really.We're running out of oil + the burning of oil is most likely bad for the entire biosphere = how much more profit can we make out of this?I realise that there are steps being made, e.g. hybrid cars, and the rest. But the impacts of global warming are happening now... The bulk of the human race is fairly apathetic when its comes to lifestyle changes, and so the voluntary measures aren't going to cut it. Not to mention the fact that the above steps towards change are expensive and therefore inaccessible to most...Sometimes I feel the principles of Malthusian thought are the most likely outcome.Kakariki

Nevermind.Edited by Infixion, : No reason given.