by 6 people |
Suburbia: When the walls came crumbling down
I watched it happen, The End of Suburbia.
This movie was, this article is, about regular folks having a conversation about the glue that holds our society together, oil and money. Our homes, our cars, laundry soap, pizza and Walmart. Stuff that really matters to all of us.
Recently as I flipped through the reruns, I came across Link Tv host, Aimee Allison interviewing Richard Heinberg, author of "Peak Everything" talking about the peak oil crisis. This was a first, an expert talking about oil in a down-to-earth way that relates to busy, practical folks like you and I. Hmm.
No mumbo jumbo, political spin or high drama. They didn't purposefully use terms to confuse or sidestep the issue. They didn't dumb down the conversation so that us plain folk could understand either. So I listened.
This movie was, this article is, about regular folks having a conversation about the glue that holds our society together, oil and money. Our homes, our cars, laundry soap, pizza and Walmart. Stuff that really matters to all of us.
Recently as I flipped through the reruns, I came across Link Tv host, Aimee Allison interviewing Richard Heinberg, author of "Peak Everything" talking about the peak oil crisis. This was a first, an expert talking about oil in a down-to-earth way that relates to busy, practical folks like you and I. Hmm.
No mumbo jumbo, political spin or high drama. They didn't purposefully use terms to confuse or sidestep the issue. They didn't dumb down the conversation so that us plain folk could understand either. So I listened.
Rent Movie: End of Suburbia
The end of an era, the final mists of a dissolving illusion
Although the movie came out in 2004, somehow I missed seeing it until now and boy did it hit me hard. The movie "The End of Suburbia" couldn't have been shown on Link Tv at a better time.
The movie is a documentary about the peak oil issue and the pending crisis that theorists believe is due in short order as a direct result of the decline of fuel/gas availability.
"When it came out in 2004, "The End of Suburbia" was required viewing for anti-sprawl activists. Now, four years later, the film is both quaint and frighteningly prophetic", writes Dorothy Woodend.
Huge Kudos to Link Tv for that kind of courage - especially right before elections!
Perhaps as much as the movie itself, I really enjoyed Aimee Allison's interviews with Richard Heinberg and Greg Greene, director/writer of the film The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream .
For me it seemed like having those experts in my living room where I could sit them down and ask some real questions. Questions I wished someone would ask. " Okay, what does this really mean? What happens to me, all of us "common folk"? How does that affect our lives? "
In her Link TV interview, Aimee Allison really blew open the conversation when she said,
"I have to say that the thing that really struck me the most from this film is the realization that wind, and solar and nitrogen,natural gas, hydrogen, nuclear - none of that is going to be enough to support the American lifestyle. Along with the lifestyle of everyone coming up around the globe."
I know we all have busy lives so even if you don't get to sit down and watch the movie, it's worth seeing these short interviews. You can see these interviews on Link Tv's site here:http://www.linktv.org/video/3063
For me, there are three major actions steps the movie seemed to suggest that each of us do, and here they are:
The movie is a documentary about the peak oil issue and the pending crisis that theorists believe is due in short order as a direct result of the decline of fuel/gas availability.
"When it came out in 2004, "The End of Suburbia" was required viewing for anti-sprawl activists. Now, four years later, the film is both quaint and frighteningly prophetic", writes Dorothy Woodend.
Huge Kudos to Link Tv for that kind of courage - especially right before elections!
Perhaps as much as the movie itself, I really enjoyed Aimee Allison's interviews with Richard Heinberg and Greg Greene, director/writer of the film The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream .
For me it seemed like having those experts in my living room where I could sit them down and ask some real questions. Questions I wished someone would ask. " Okay, what does this really mean? What happens to me, all of us "common folk"? How does that affect our lives? "
In her Link TV interview, Aimee Allison really blew open the conversation when she said,
"I have to say that the thing that really struck me the most from this film is the realization that wind, and solar and nitrogen,natural gas, hydrogen, nuclear - none of that is going to be enough to support the American lifestyle. Along with the lifestyle of everyone coming up around the globe."
I know we all have busy lives so even if you don't get to sit down and watch the movie, it's worth seeing these short interviews. You can see these interviews on Link Tv's site here:http://www.linktv.org/video/3063
For me, there are three major actions steps the movie seemed to suggest that each of us do, and here they are:
#1. Learn about sustainable practices.
According to some scientists and theorists we have already produced the greatest volumes of oil that the Earth will produce. From here on, there will be less oil than there has been. We're living on a declining supply.
Not just in the middle east. Of course there is oil here in America, Alaska. But it really amounts to licking the bowl clean. It's insignificant to the need and doesn't change the fact that the whole system is completely unsustainable.
Dr. King Hubbert developed the theory called "The Hubbert curve" and is the model that is used to explain the Peak Oil issue.
"The Hubbert curve, devised by Dr. King Hubbert, is a model of future oil availability (the amount of oil that will be available in the future).
The issue is not about "running out of oil" it never will be, it's about not having enough oil to keep our economies running and expanding." - source from Dave's ESL Bio Fuel
Not just in the middle east. Of course there is oil here in America, Alaska. But it really amounts to licking the bowl clean. It's insignificant to the need and doesn't change the fact that the whole system is completely unsustainable.
Dr. King Hubbert developed the theory called "The Hubbert curve" and is the model that is used to explain the Peak Oil issue.
"The Hubbert curve, devised by Dr. King Hubbert, is a model of future oil availability (the amount of oil that will be available in the future).
The issue is not about "running out of oil" it never will be, it's about not having enough oil to keep our economies running and expanding." - source from Dave's ESL Bio Fuel
A clip from the movie: End of Surburbia
Concise and brutally honest. There's more being said in this short clip than most books on the subject. Should be mandatory viewing for every registered voter.
The end of suburbia
END OF SUBURBIA DVD ($25) The party is over. The cheap oil that powers your SUV is about gone. Don't believe me? Then tell me how much you spent last time you filled up? Or you could just watch this insightful documentary that warns us of the coming 'shit storm'. This one is guaranteed to scare the hell out of you and we promise you will want to share this with all the folks you care about.
curated content from YouTube
#2 Live better with less. Improve the QUALITY of our lives.
What will we do without Walmart?
It seems that the common idea is that we can keep our same lifestyles and simply replace one thing for another. More is better and we can let our selves off the hook when we act irresponsible by "off-setting" it. Right? So we "offset" and it makes it okay, neutral - right?
The problem with that is that it only promotes more of the same behavior. More consumption, more irresponsibility, more of the same bad habits.
See, it's not that we're all "bad" evil people, we just go used to some terrible habits, addictions really. And you can't deal with addictions by replacment therapy.
There isn't enough of anything to keep fueling the machine. Limited resources can not keep up with an addictive demand.
There is only so much oil. There is only so much land. There is only so much water. And there is only one Earth.
There is simply not enough to feed our greed! Our endless need for more.
Want to something really meaningful for our environment? Reduce your consumption.
It's not just about peak oil either, it's about our planet and everything on it. It's redefining what we value. What's really important to us?
By learning to curb our appetites and appreciating more it really doesn't cost you more, it saves you money along with many, many other things. Living better, replacing the quality with the insatiable need for more of a inferior, quantity. This includes food and water.
The problem with that is that it only promotes more of the same behavior. More consumption, more irresponsibility, more of the same bad habits.
See, it's not that we're all "bad" evil people, we just go used to some terrible habits, addictions really. And you can't deal with addictions by replacment therapy.
There isn't enough of anything to keep fueling the machine. Limited resources can not keep up with an addictive demand.
There is only so much oil. There is only so much land. There is only so much water. And there is only one Earth.
There is simply not enough to feed our greed! Our endless need for more.
Want to something really meaningful for our environment? Reduce your consumption.
It's not just about peak oil either, it's about our planet and everything on it. It's redefining what we value. What's really important to us?
By learning to curb our appetites and appreciating more it really doesn't cost you more, it saves you money along with many, many other things. Living better, replacing the quality with the insatiable need for more of a inferior, quantity. This includes food and water.
twittering about the end of suburbia
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- arzeena
- End of Suburbia free screening @ Fisher Auditorium, Richmond General Hospital, Jan 27th 7-9pm. Bring friends! http://ow.ly/Qd6f
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- cells_nnm
- watch documentary movie "The End of Suburbia - oil depletion and the collapse of the american dream" http://bit.ly/6N27Kk highly recommended
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- blodicus
- "End of Suburbia" Producers Working on New Film http://blodic.us/technology/end-of-suburbia-producers-working-on-new-film-70-0.htm
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- TimmyTest
- "End of Suburbia" Producers Working on New Film http://tinyurl.com/y8hbkf2
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- peaktweat
- "End of Suburbia" Producers Working on New Film: "End of Suburbia" Producers Working on New Film http://bit.ly/5KkGSS
automatically generated by Twitter
#3 Taking care of you and yours.
Investing in what we value.
How will you take care of your family?
There's this myth that green is expensive. But in terms of holding on to what we truly value, the cost of consumption is too much.
This is the time to really look at what is important to us. For the typical person it's their family. Right up there with family is food, water, happiness. These are the things that we really value.
The challenges in our economy, the changes we will experience in the days to come can be the opportunity we've all be waiting for to really strengthen our families and communities.
So it's time really to sit down and talk about these things.
Heart to heart. At a real, sit down dinner. Keep it simple and focused.
There's this myth that green is expensive. But in terms of holding on to what we truly value, the cost of consumption is too much.
This is the time to really look at what is important to us. For the typical person it's their family. Right up there with family is food, water, happiness. These are the things that we really value.
The challenges in our economy, the changes we will experience in the days to come can be the opportunity we've all be waiting for to really strengthen our families and communities.
So it's time really to sit down and talk about these things.
Heart to heart. At a real, sit down dinner. Keep it simple and focused.
Peak Oil and the End of the Surburban Myth in the news
- Transmission Gully is go | Kiwiblog
- Regardless of the personal and community impacts that this will have, which are very large, it fails to take into account climate change and peak oil which unfortunatly we have to be very mindful of in this age. Public transport IS the awnser for ... Silverstream hospital was handed back to the locals in April 1944. link http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/us-forces-in-new-zealand/the-end-or-a-beginning. You're defending an urban myth sheath. Vote: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0 ...
- Oil Price Volatility and Economic Chaos - Raise the Hammer
- Despite his acknowlegement of peak oil, Gwynne Dyer is still something of an optimist - he accepts the IEA's 2020 time-line for peak oil. His January 2 warning about oil price volatility ended on a positive note: [Peak oil] does not necessarily mean regular oil ... If we let falling oil prices lull us into a new round of SUV purchases and big suburban homes, we will squander our last-ditch opportunity to avoid getting locked into a decaying spiral of economic chaos. ...
- The origins of peak oil doomerism | Energy Bulletin
- I now believe that Peak Oil catastrophism is largely a manifestation of our primary cultural myth: that all things end with suffering, death, and then resurrection. Belief in apocalypse is programmed into western civilization. .... Some argue that post-peak, only those with primitive skills such as tanning and flint-knapping will survive. Suburban drones will die. So after the collapse, we follow the myth's final trajectory into the survival of an elect, and a rebirth in ...
- The Oil Drum: Campfire | PROJECT FOR A REVOLUTION IN PHILADELPHIA
- I kinda expect that peak oil may force this. Or have you figured out a way to replace the nutrients exported each year from the farms to the cities without fossil fuels? I make no claims on timing. ..... Permanent relocalization would include demolishing much of the suburban rings and returning that land to agriculture, this along with intensive small plot husbandry. This would still require the import to the city of cereal grains from areas where these are cultivated. ...
#4 Is your community ready? Start a plan.
B.W. (Before Walmart) our communities survived by interacting. Person to person, on the phone and face to face. We can do that with technology, but we've got to learn how to connect deeper again.
It's like the whole world of email and the internet gave us a screen to hide behind rather than a world to connect, at least when it comes to interpersonal communications.
It's time to sit down, slow down with a cup of coffee and talk about with our families, our local communities, get to know one another first before you head for deep waters.
Vancouver, B.C.'s, Richard Balfour in an interview for the article, Plan Well or Perish about the development of the city's "Strategic Sustainable Planning: A Civil Defense Manual for Cultural Survival", says
"We have already crossed too many important points in time where we could have managed a gentle change to a post oil society. We now enter a period of painful adjustment. The weakest links in society, the deniers, still wield too much influence.
When we delay the changes, our culture has less chance of survival.
Planning for a soft landing is about working together to avoid the painful crash. We must accept radical change, quantum-leaps, lateral thinking, and shift to patterns of community, and we must do this in short order."
Watch the movie and let me know. What do you think?
It's like the whole world of email and the internet gave us a screen to hide behind rather than a world to connect, at least when it comes to interpersonal communications.
It's time to sit down, slow down with a cup of coffee and talk about with our families, our local communities, get to know one another first before you head for deep waters.
Vancouver, B.C.'s, Richard Balfour in an interview for the article, Plan Well or Perish about the development of the city's "Strategic Sustainable Planning: A Civil Defense Manual for Cultural Survival", says
"We have already crossed too many important points in time where we could have managed a gentle change to a post oil society. We now enter a period of painful adjustment. The weakest links in society, the deniers, still wield too much influence.
When we delay the changes, our culture has less chance of survival.
Planning for a soft landing is about working together to avoid the painful crash. We must accept radical change, quantum-leaps, lateral thinking, and shift to patterns of community, and we must do this in short order."
Watch the movie and let me know. What do you think?
Resources to help you learn more.
Love it? Hate it? Another opportunity to let us know what's important to you.
Please add to the list also. We all benefit that way.
Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty by Daniel Lerch
Post Carbon Cities examines how peak oil and globa more...0 points
Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World by Richard Heinberg
If the US continues with its current policies, the more...0 points
Toolbox for Sustainable City Living: A do-it-Ourselves Guide by Scott Kellogg, Stacy Pettigrew
The tools you need to create self-sufficient, eco more...0 points
Living Green Page-A-Day Calendar 2009 (Page-A-Day Calendars) by Workman Publishing Company
New for 2009, a calendar that makes living green h more...0 points
Fact or Myth? What do you think?
Does the Peak Oil Crisis belong with Sasquatch sitings and Area 51? Is it a myth perpetuated by the media to increase news ratings?
Or is it real? Is this the end of the cheap oil production and the advent of a new era?
Myth or Reality?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byIt Sucks, but its real!
random247 says:
It is reality and people need to face the facts that we WILL run out of oil... and not in a million years, but maybe in ten!! That is what my science teacher said and it IS true!! It doesn't matter if you like it or not because it's reality and people just have to deal with it.
Posted November 29, 2008
Another Elvis Sighting - Straight Up Myth
Maxter says:
All you commie-loving, tree-hugging, terrorist sympathizers who doubt God's support for the great American way of life should be sent to Guantanamo where you belong.
Oil will never run out suckers, its a Muslim conspiracy. The financial crisis is the fault of crazy environmentalists gettin gin the way of development.
I'm gonna be buried next to my Hummer with my Colt Magnum by my pecker.
Posted February 19, 2009
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The Call to Conscious Evolution - Sign the petition
- A Call for Conscious Evolution | Healthy and Green Living
- Visionaries Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Greg Braden and many others call for a shift in the consciousness of the planet to improve the human condition.
- Obama & Pollan: Food, Fuel & Politics
- "There is no better potential driver that pervades all aspects of our economy than a new energy economy. I was just reading an article in the New York Times by Michael Pollen about food and the fact that our entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil." President Elect Barack Obama
- Thanksgiving: Lessons in Sustainability
- The first thanksgiving. Pilgrims and Indians gathered around the table, a bounty of food and gratitude.Most of us realize that the Pilgrims almost didn't make it that first winter, but few really realize how much that Thanksgiving was a 'tipping point' if you will, that made history.
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About 9+ Pollan’s Silence of the Yams
Nov 18th, 2008
by admin. The Silence of the Yams : TreeHuggerEat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
That is how Michael Pollan starts his
Newbie Squid desires feedback, please.
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- xorandomxo xorandomxo Nov 29, 2008 @ 12:34 pm
- I just learned about this in my science class and we watched some clips from The End of Suburbia. I think it's great that you're spreading the word! :-)
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- thesolowriter thesolowriter Nov 10, 2008 @ 2:15 pm
- Your lens contains information we all need to hear more of. Awareness is the key component to changing the world. Unfortunately, it takes a LOT of information being constantly thrown at us before we act. I see more and more recycle bins in our neighborhood and more and more people at the recycling centers here in town. That's a positive. Keep up this kind of work, stay persistent, stay positive, and it WILL make a difference. 5*!!
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- Happiegrrrl Happiegrrrl Nov 10, 2008 @ 12:45 pm
- The film you mentioned at the top of the page sounds interesting. And I love movies! I'll look for it on Netflix; thanks for the insight, Gemma.
by gbenton789
Faced with throwing my hands up and walking into the woods, forever, or doing what I can to be a part of the solution. I choose to Squidoo. (more)
