Growing up the
granddaughter of a biology teacher, the daughter of a general science teacher
and a theology teacher, I have pondered issues like fuel from a pretty early
age. This film, aptly named Fuel was
pretty informative when it came to facets of the fuel industry. Like all documentaries,
it came from a distinct point of view; it was very biased against big oil
companies. Although, it completely threw the oil corporations under the bus, Fuel did bring up some very good points
against oil drilling, production, and distilling. For example: oil is not a renewable
source and we will eventually run out, the drilling and refining processes harm
things in the area around them. They produce lots of CO2, other
toxic byproducts, and can cause cancer and other diseases for people who live
and work around the refineries.
The narrator,
director, and main “character” of the movie is Josh Tickell-- who is a big
advocator of biodiesel. In a short, sweet, and to the point review of Fuel, author, Norman Wilner says, “His documentary, Fuel, is essentially a feature-length
infomercial for the sustainable, cleaner-burning organic fuel.” Biodiesel
is a good (but not perfect) alternative to regular gasoline or petro-diesel. It
harms the environment less and can be produced by even algae that feed off of
organic waste. The film, however, does not address any of the draw backs of
using bio-diesel, leaving the viewer thinking that it is the miracle cure for
our addiction to oil. Wilner’s review seems to hit on these points, and fairly
accurately represents what I thought of the movie. I also thought that it was
much more political than it needed to be. On the more practical side of things:
I’ve always wanted a small, fuel-efficient car and after watching this film, I
can see that not being so dependent on oil is a good thing. But, cars are
expensive and the best action I can take right now is being conscious of how
much gas I use. Then there’s always the act of recycling—we are called to be
good stewards of this earth and throwing out 99% of what we buy is not being a
good steward. We can reuse things in hopes of making the earth a better place
for all creation.
http://www.nowtoronto.com/movies/story.cfm?content=175765
This is a great synopsis of the documentary, I already feel informed and I would go see this movie to get a better idea of the issues with fuel. I too have been inspired by trying to find new fuel sources and I hope we do find a resource that is cleaner and more plentiful. However if no such resource exists we will have to change our way of living. I agree with your statement that fuel efficient cars are more expensive and I believe there should be an initiative for making fuel efficient cars more affordable. I wouldn't consider myself and environmentalist but I do think that we need to do something about the state of the environment and I think cleaner fuel is a great place to start.
ReplyDeleteGood, brief analysis of the film, Heather. There's certainly a lot to talk about in response to this film, but I think it would be good to briefly explore your comment about the film being too political. This can often be true, but it's almost impossible to talk about these kinds of systemic issues without getting into politics. To a large degree, our energy policy is directed primarily by our politics and there are very real consequences to those policies. If we are to bear witness to the Kingdom, we can't be afraid to walk into uncomfortable conversations when necessary.
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