Film3

1. Title, director and release year? “Fuel : Change your fuel… Change your world.” The director of movie is Josh Tickell. The movie was released in 2010.

2. What is the central argument or narrative of the film? Pollution is hurting our environment which is caused by our consumption and disposing of harmful products into the environment.

3. Who are they key social actors and stakeholders in the film? People who see problems with our oil consumption and want to inform the public of how we may change our ways to help preserve our environment and keep it safe to live in. Josh Tickell is the narrator of this documentary. He was born in 1975 and spent much of his time as a child playing in the outdoors.

4. What does the film convey about the matrix of factors that contribute to our dependence on oil? Oil and fossil fuels are the “life blood of our society.” Fossil fuels heat mostly every house in the United States. Though not directly a source of fossil fuel, charging electronic products adds to our dependence on oil. Most of our electricity is made from fossil fuels which drives energy plants. To heat water requires fuel too. Our society has become accustomed to using oil based products such as plastics and PVC pipes. Without these products the infrastructure in our houses and many of the products we use and love would not be able to be made. Finally, oil companies are making astronomical profits. These companies lobby congress to promote the oil industry.

5. What does the film convey about the matrix of problems caused by our dependence on oil? Pollution through fossil fuels is caused by burning, burying or dumping oil. Living next to petrol chemical plants cause infertility. Louisiana which has the most petro chemical plants has one of the highest cancer rates in the United States. We are using up our oil reserves too fast. The United States consumes 25% of the world’s oil and with developing countries (China, India) consuming more oil, we will run out soon.

6. What does the film convey about the matrix of affects that would be mobilized by a shift away from oil? Ninety percent of the EPA’s funding in Louisiana comes from large petroleum companies. This makes the EPA more lenient to these companies and look the other way when things might be bad for society. These large oil companies fund political campaigns which hinder our chances for congress to mandate that we switch to a renewable source of energy. Since oil companies would go out of business if there was a new source of energy, they will do whatever needs to be done to make sure the world continues to use the world’s oil reserves.

7. What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why? The economy of nations is driven by oil. I never thought of this because I thought industry drove the economy but all industry uses oil. Also, 50 billion dollars a year is spent on protecting oil reserves in the Middle East. We spend that much money on that one commodity security when the money could go to feeding the hungry. Another compelling fact is that Rockefeller moved to have a prohibition on alcohol so ethyl alcohol would not be produced making Henry Ford switch his cars to run only on oil. Another thing I found compelling was that there were deep tax breaks for cars that weighed 6000 pounds or more to help stimulate the economy. I thought there would be a tax break for energy efficient vehicles compared to large gas guzzlers. Though the United States has 4.5 of the earth inhabitants, it produces 50% of the worlds car CO2. This is something that we need to highlight if we are going to get people to switch to alternative energy.

8. What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? Why? There were no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq which suggests it was just a way to sell the American people on going to war for oil. I am sure there were other motives to entering Iraq other than oil. Bio-diesel will solve our transportation needs. I disagree because there would be more demand for biodiesel than what could be supplied if our society was to go in that direction. Toyota has become the most popular car brand because of its new hybrid the Prius. I believe that the automobile manufacturer’s reputation prior to this made it a popular brand. Many more companies are now developing hybrids.

9. What kinds of corrective action are suggested by the film? If the film itself does not suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective. We can use biodiesel to drive our cars. Have the United States run all its cars on electricity. To do this we would need to have sustainable power plants and a sustainable source of biodiesel.

10. What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out? (Provide at least two supporting references, explaining what your learned from each reference.) This film made me look at how much money is spent lobbying the EPA each year. According to the New York Times article, “Chemical Company Adds Lobbying Muscle for Push on Energy, EPA,” The Kingsport Company which is located in Tennessee spent about $1.1 million a month and that is just one company. The film also motivated me to look at different government organizations such as the U.S Energy Information Administration. I found this graph and according to it, a barrel of oil should cost $110 a barrel which is close to how much it costs today $100. []

Another thing this film made me seek out is how much infrastructure is put in place for biodiesel. I navigated to the DOE where I found a guide on biodiesel. The guide said " Never buy from someone making fuel in their garage or backyard" people fill up their tanks with Greece from McDonalds. The Guide also gives a list of distributors.

http://www.biodiesel.org/buyingbiodiesel/guide/guide_consumers.shtm