Geography Supports 'Future without Oil' Film Series

The NMU geography department has contributed financial support to a free public film series titled “Preparing Marquette for a Future Without Oil.” A different film is shown and discussed one Wednesday evening each month at Peter White Public Library. The series addresses falling world oil supplies, the impact on several facets of community life and what residents can do to prepare for it.

"No matter how hard you look, there's a finite amount of oil, and we are in a situation now where we face ever-decreasing amounts of energy," said Steve DeGoosh (Geography). "U.S. oil production peaked in 1970 and the world probably did this past summer.  This will have drastic impacts, not just from an energy perspective, but in terms of the food supply, the whole financial system and every aspect of our culture which has been reliant on the growth of an economy based on cheap energy. 

" The United States has two percent of the known oil reserves on the planet and we import 27 percent of the world's production. The "peak oil" crisis is not a hypothetical exercise; it's the real thing. As a community, Marquette is very vulnerable because it imports all of its energy and most of its food. The purpose of the film series is to not only raise awareness of this crisis, but also to challenge the community to unleash its creativity in a positive way to meet the threat and transition to become truly sustainable."

The first two films were Taken for a Ride and Crude Awakening. Remaining titles, showing at 7 p.m. on their respective dates, are: Crude Impact, Feb. 25; End of Suburbia, March 25; Money as Debt, April 29; The Power of Community, May 27; and What a Way to Go, June 10.

 

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Updated: February 5, 2009

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