I watched “The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream” last night in the Lower Level of the Capitol Hill Arts Center, preceded by a presentation by Jake Perrine of the Art Institute of Seattle and followed by a discussion led by Eric Magnuson of Bainbridge Graduate Institute [there will be another screening, presentation & discussion there on August 24]. I’ve been increasingly questioning my suburban lifestyle since reading “The Great Good Place: Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community” by Ray Oldenburg; this movie ratcheted up the inquiry. The documentary film, which has been compared to Michael Moore‘s Fahrenheit 9/11, focuses on the World Oil Peak, which is predicted to occur sometime during this decade (i.e., by 2010), after which point the supply of oil will decline, prices for oil — and everything that depends on oil (which is nearly everything, at least in the USA) — will rise and, according to the commentators in the film, significant economic, social and political upheavals will ensue. The film emphasizes the particularly harsh impact the post-peak changes will have on suburban lifestyles in this country, though clearly the entire population of the country (and world) will be adversely affected.
The film includes interviews with a number of experts on the topic. Some of the most memorable, and jarring, quotes were from James Howard Kuntsler, author of “Home from Nowhere: Remaking our Everyday World for the 21st Century”, e.g., referring to suburbia as “the greatest misallocation of resources in this history of the world”, “dormitories on cul-de-sacs”, “a cartoon of country living” and a number of other, er, more colorful, descriptions that I won’t include here. Another collection of jarring statements were made by Matthew Simmons, an investment banker, and member of the Bush Administration’s Energy Task Force: “The situation is desperate. This is the world’s biggest serious question … The solution is to pray.” [The latter statement is clearly in keeping with the religious language of the Bush Administration, although most of Simmons’ other statements appear to significantly deviate from the Administration line … I hope his wife is not a CIA agent.] Fortunately, the forecasts are not entirely negative; the potential positive outcomes include the [continued] growth of new urbanism, local organic farming, alternative (car-free) transportation, and community networks.
Jake‘s presentation concluded with a quote from James Kenneth Galbraith. I, too, will close with a quote from Galbraith (from an article in The American Prospect entitled “The Unbearable Costs of Empire”); while I’m not sure it’s the same one, it certainly echoes the same theme:
This is the policy that Bush and Cheney are actually imposing on the rest of the world. But they cannot make it last. It will make lives miserable elsewhere, generating ever more resistance, terrorism and military engagement. Meanwhile, we will not experience even gradual exposure to the changing energy balance; we will therefore never make the investments required to adjust, even eventually, to a world of scarce and expensive oil. In the end, therefore, that world will arrive much more abruptly than it otherwise would, shaking the fragile edifice of our oil economy to its foundations. And we will someday face a double explosion: of anger against our arrogance and of actual shortage and collapsing living standards, when the confidence of investors in the dollar finally gives way. Compared with this future, a new commitment to collective security, to a new world financial structure, to a rational energy and transportation policy, and to spending to meet our actual domestic needs would be a bargain.