If+The+Oil+Runs+Out

** Director: ** Bren Simons ** Release Year: ** 2006 ** What is the central argument or narrative of the film? **  People in the U.S. have been convinced that the oil, or cheap energy in the world with continue into the foreseeable future for this country. This has led to lethargy in developing alternatives. The film portrays the social panic and economic trouble that could arise when the inexpensive energy runs out. There are two sides that are shown, one is a middle income couple who are set in their ways of consuming oil, the other is a geologist searching for the last undiscovered oil reserves. Both groups are convinced that their lives will return to their pre-crisis normal once more oil is discovered. The film portrays the social unrest and tension that would go along with such a crisis. Is shows the tension in the oil company, how it is essential to find the next large oil field. Also is shows the tension between neighbors all across the country. ** Who are the key social actors and stakeholders of the film? **  The film is trying to show the changes in the lives of average Americans in the year 2016. In this case it follows a couple in Minnesota. They are struggling to pay their home heating bills, and having a difficult time finding gas for their car every week. This family is very reluctant to change their lifestyle to compensate for increased energy prices, which is similar to what most Americans have done in the past. One glaring example, John, one of the main characters just purchased a new SUV before the energy crisis. Even when gas is expensive and hard to find he refuses to stop driving his car. He feels it is right to drive his car whenever he wants. This attitude leads him to begin hording fuel that he stole from the delivery company he works for. On the side is the geologist who is under intense pressure from her company and herself to find the next large oil field. She becomes over confident in the size of the field that is discovered. These two characters represent many American well. The average person is reluctant to change and the person in power with the technical knowledge is over confident in their ability to continue the status quo of development. ** What does the film convey about the matrix of the factors that contribute to our dependence on oil? **  The couple in the film is having trouble finding fuel to meet their daily transportation needs. This would become a common them in people’s lives with an oil shortage. Most of the population in the U.S. lives in the suburbs, forcing them to drive every day. One problem is that even if people tried to move into town centers there would not be enough places for them to live. To accommodate such a change would take decades to change the layout of towns and cities across the country. Also there is a lack of public transportation to satisfy the needs of the people living in the suburbs. The film shows the tension between the couple and their neighbors when they are working to share rides. The main character, John, is angry that he is forced to rely on others for his basic needs, getting to the store every week. Also he feels his neighbors are taking advantage of him by not driving their fair share. This is an interesting situation, people should be willing to help their closest neighbors, however the society of this country has become selfish and self-centered. People have become accustomed to having their own personal car. This has become an area of pride that people are not willing to forfeit. ** What does the film convey about the matrix of problems caused by our dependence on oil? **  The U.S. has spent the past several decades building a society that is based on rural communities and personal transportation. This situation demands great deal of inexpensive energy. Most of these communities will be unable to function with an oil shortage. To obtain this energy oil exploration and production has been reaching further and further into pristine natural areas and unstable countries. The geologist in the movie was searching for oil in ANWR, one of the last untouched areas in the world. Even with the maximum predicted reserves in ANWR, there would only be enough oil to satisfy a small percentage of the U.S. oil appetite. This dependence on oil has forced the U.S. to rely on oil form unstable countries and countries that have high levels of social injustice. The country is forced to compromise on moral issues to obtain oil. Even with only about 5% of the worlds population this country consumes about 25% of the oil. This is an unsustainable pattern when other countries are striving for higher standards of living. If every country consumes in a similar manner the world will run out of oil very quickly. When the inexpensive energy does run out, all the problems that have been being ignored for decades will come to the surface. This will start a major panics state in the country and around the world. People will not have the means to live their lives in a new way and will be looking for solutions anyplace they can find them. The film shows an economic rescission with the increased price of energy, this is exactly what took place a couple of years ago. People were unable to afford many of their normal luxuries and business suffered. This type of recession will continue until people learn to live in a society that does not depend on oil. The U.S. has spent decades developing an oil based society and has not back up plan for when the oil does run out. ** What parts of the film convey about the matrix of affects that would be mobilized by a shift away from oil? **  Even with the increase in prices of energy, people in the movie were still dedicated to living their lives the way they always have. They were reluctant to enter a new age of social development that was not based on oil. Even with this tension people still hoped and searched for the next large oil field to solve the problem, not alternatives to oil. People were not making any meaningful changes. Outside of the film, when the price of oil increases for extended periods of time people begin to make changes to their lives. Higher prices will motivate everyone to look into their lives to see what can be changed. The problem is that for decades the price of energy was never a concern for most people, so no changes were ever made. A couple of year ago when oil prices rose significantly people changed their lifestyles very quickly. However these changes did not stick because oil prices quickly fell again. With increased prices, there may be an economic recession, but people still need to live their lives. There will be a shift to other natural materials to live life with. This will be the beginning of great investment in renewable fuel and alternatives to oil. This may cause a push for other fossil fuels that are readable available in this country. However if there is a dramatic enough change people may begin to realize the problem. ** What part of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? **  The portrayal of the panic that would set in if there was an oil shortage was very interesting. It may have been an exudation. However it was still very revealing. It brings up all the things that oil in an integral part of in daily life, many things that are never thought of. If something like this were to happen, a true worldwide shortage of oil, there would be a serious problem, especial in this country. There really is not plan for such a situation, many people have never even considered it. ** What part of the film did you not find compelling or convincing? **  Several years ago there was a short period of time when oil was about $150 per barrel. This was very close to the price of oil that was mentioned in the movie. During that time there was no panic or major crisis. People learned to change their lives to accommodate the price. In this case the price spike was not long enough to affect the price of other good dramatically so the full effects of the prices were not felt by the public. In the movie people truly panicked about the situation, they were fighting each other and steeling fuel. This type of reaction to another price increase may happen in isolated situation, but most people will either pay the extra money or change their lives, much like they did several years ago. ** What kind of corrective action are suggested by the film, if the film itself does not suggest a corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective? **  The film did not do much work describing any changes that could be made to our society. The film mostly described the present problem and how the world would look during the oil shortage. The few points that were brought up were the fact that the landscape of the country would have to change. This means that people would no longer live in suburbs. Towns and cities would become more vertical with denser population centers, much like most of Europe. The film also mentions that people would have to make general life changes that do not include transportation. Oil is a large part of most products in daily life. They would become more expensive and people would have to learn to live with less of them. The main point of the movie was to convince people that there needs to be a change in society now. There is very little time left for a cheap energy society. ** What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out, provide two examples of what you learned? **  After watching the film I was interested in looking up information about the production of bio fuels. In this case I looked into bio diesel. I found that it can be made relatively easily from used cooking oil. This is oil that restaurants have to pay to dispose of. Some of the information said that this oil can be converted to useable diesel for under $1 per gallon. This number is for a person doing it themselves, so actual gas station prices would be significantly higher to include taxes and labor costs. It is very interesting that is a valuable resource that is being thrown out every week in this country. There would probably be a large market for it if it was provided at local stations.
 * Title: **If The Oil Runs Out