It is a fact that oil is a finite resource, created
over millions and millions of years as certain types
of source rock were heated by the natural radioactivity in the Earth's
crust. In a very unscientific and roundabout way, these rocks then
melted and became the oil we drill for both at sea and inland. This interesting and generally
well-presented exposé purports that we are almost at the point
of maximum oil drilling, and after that point the abundance of
oil will decrease exponentially until there is not one drop of oil left
to be mined. As
well as explaining this point, it's hard to
come away from watching this DVD without getting the foreboding feeling
that by 2030 or so, the world is going to be an incredibly different
place. Well, I should say that it will be a different place for first
world nations, which have been used to cheap energy for decades. According to the
arguments in the Peak Oil: Imposed By Nature DVD, the current era
of cheap energy is about to change forever. If, as the DVD suggests, oil begins to dwindle after 2010 or
thereabouts, the result will be recession not just in the United States
and England and Australia and wealthy first world countries, but the
entire world will buckle under the massively hiked prices of oil. The predictions are grim. Oil
is needed to run almost everything, and as a result of the rising price
of oil, almost all goods will rise in price, luxury and otherwise. The
DVD begins with Dr. Colin Campbell retelling the story of being courted
by the U.S. intelligence services in somewhat shady circumstances in
Ireland, as they learn of his work on Peak Oil, and though it's a bit
slow to begin with, it becomes quite compelling. It is suggested that
such interest by the intelligence networks in Dr. Campbell's work in
Peak Oil is not whether he is right or wrong, but in how quickly his
findings and the ASPO (Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas) will take to enlighten the global population as to the fact that oil is running out. Dr.
Colin Campbell is the star of the DVD, appearing in most of its scenes,
and before he became one of the key figures in communicating the Peak
Oil situation to politicians and industry, he was worked for Texaco, BP
and other oil companies as an exploration geologist. The
Oxford-educated Ph.D has worked all around the globe in oil
exploration, and basically says that the world has been completely
explored and that there are no more oil fields left to mine. He takes his findings to politicians in London, but it falls on deaf ears for the most part.
Generally
speaking, this DVD is hard to watch - not because it's boring, but
because the viewer comes to the realisation that lifestyles are going
to change. Along with global warming, our consumerist ways will be the
stuff of legend in another 50 years. It makes many concrete
arguments that are difficult to rebut, which for you, me, and Joe
Public can make our current way of life seem a bit futile. Simply put,
if Peak Oil is in fact true, then
our current way of life - from driving our cars to buying fruit from
the supermarket - will never again be the way they are. Unless you are
filthy rich, you will have to make massive sacrifices. This DVD
interviews many different people, and far from being nobodies off the
street, the subjects who make comment are generally highly respected
scientists from around the world, but mainly from Europe. There is one
American voice, but even he lives and operates from London, which is
interesting. One argument says that the current war on terror, and even 9/11 itself,
is directly linked to Peak Oil, and that there may be wars waged
for the control of the world's last remaining sources of oil in
Columbia, North Africa and other oil-rich regions of the world, not
unlike what we now see is happening in Iraq. Even Dr. Colin Campbell
himself says that everyone in the Bush administration knew the Iraq
war would be waged for control of oil reserves, and any other
reason given was to win public support. One of the ideas the DVD
presents is that the Earth has been fully explored for oil, and that if
any reserves were left, they'd be being tapped right now. It argues
that the fact of the matter is that we've reached peak oil (or will
reach it in a few years) and the sooner the world's media, governments,
and finally the general population understand this, the sooner the
world will begin to invest in other fuel technologies and contingency
plans. And this is where it gets interesting, because at
present there is irrefutable evidence that burning coal and oil
are harmful for planet earth and everything that resides on, below and above its surface. We can switch to other fuel
types, but the infrastructure isn't there. If we were to move towards
solar energy or hydrogen energy, it would take decades. The DVD argues
that for industry and government to begin implementing policies to
enact such changes, the general public must be the ones to deliver the
ultimatum, because governments are too easily lobbied by energy interests. There are also interesting arguments from a
British economist who suggests that it is in the interest of big
business and industry to begin investing in new energy sources as oil
is running out, and it's good to see some non-scientific voices in the
DVD. Though
the tone of the DVD is somewhat alarmist, it seems
eerily justified in this approach. That said, the way in which it
depicts George W. Bush and his right-hand man Dick Cheney seems a bit
intense, with rapidly flickering images of their faces and general
repetition. And at other times, though thankfully few, the
director (Amund Prestegard) reduces the entirely persuasive
impacts that the
personalities make to insincere comments because of the editing. But in
general the DVD is provocative, and made a powerful impact
on this viewer. DVD
Extras The menu is fairly basic
and overall tone of the DVD is fairly average in general, but the
message is powerful. This DVD is one of the first to put forward the
case of Peak Oil to the general public, but it won't be the last. And I
must say a slicker production would have done wonders. Still, even beyond the basic menu, and extra footage in the extras, the DVD is impressive. The
extras consists of a couple of interviews with Norwegian social
scientist (who goes through a worst-case scenario if peak oil happens
by 2010) and a German nuclear scientist, who talks about alternative
energy, such as solar, nuclear, hydrogen and some other equally
interesting (and baffling) ideas. Not brilliant extras overall, but they add a lot to this DVD and perhaps should have been spliced into the main feature. Conclusion:
Movie 75% Extras: 80% 
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