The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream

I own a Video store with hundreds of documentaries. I have seen loads of them and love all of the great info out there. Only a small handful though even come close to offering info as important as this one. I have been reading through other peoples reviews of this film and can't help but notice that the main things people are criticizing are irrelevant. Such as "It is very one sided" Such a pathetic criticism, every where in society that you look you will see the other side, and if you still need help go to globalpublicmedia.com. "It is the same people over and over" Uh one might be led to believe that these people are the experts, so maybe they are the best people to interview. "filming style is all the same, head shots with few exceptions" If you want flash and dazzle watch Micheal Moore if you want info watch real docs such as this one. As you can plainly see none of these complaints have any relevance to the information contained. My guess is that these people are just missing the point and don't wanna give up there SUV's.

My recommendation: Watch it. Learn from it, and continue your education about such subjects. It is very important stuff for EVERYONE.

The End of Suburbia is an important documentary about modern dependence on cheap energy and the coming peak in world oil production. The film is an excellent introduction to the peak oil phenomenon, and includes interviews with experts like adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney's 2001 Energy Task Force. Mathew Simmons, author Richard Heinberg, "Powerdown - Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World" and author Michael T. Klare, "Blood and Oil - The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum.

"Economic growth is predicated upon more electricity. Electricity is predicated on hydro-carbon energy. Period. And Mathew Simmons made a very clear statement, he said: "Future growth is not possible". And for a guy from his background to say that was one of the most.. that's like the catholic church saying the earth is round before Galileo" - Michael C. Ruppert

"The peak has happened. And now, instead of being prophets, we're now historians." - Kenneth Deffeyes

A friend of mine works at an engineering company and has shown this to her office. She also holds a masters degree in energy efficient buildings (!).

This documentary focuses on energy issues, but there is so much more to counteracting suburbia (anti-social issues, global warming, etc).

I've read some negative reviews out there claiming there is a "junk science" to this documentary, but these reviewers do not provide any of their own "science" to back up their claims. Where is their documentary, "The Bottomless Well"? It's just as Kunstler says in the interviews - people will be very resistant to the idea suburbia will end. People tend to get hostile when their whole lifestyle has been put into question, and The End of Suburbia does that with efficiency and style.

Intead of changing lifestyles, many suburb dwellers will simply force the status-quo, and become very hostile to those like EOS blowing the whistle. Sad.

My review covered the documentary 'The End of Suburbia'. This documentary is about the end of the modern suburbs thanks to the end of cheap oil. It covers many different aspects of this topic. These topics are layout for the viewer to understand the issues. I want to begin the review with an analysis of quality of the film. The first topic is the about how suburbs come about. Then the next subject is the unfortunate fact about oil. Finally, the documentary talks about 'New Urbanism' as a way help ease the issue. I found the documentary to be very interesting.

I think the film is well produced and setup. It is highly organized with a chronological movement. The video does features abstract shots of television and particular the news with the interviewees talking over it. Various music tracks are used in the film. The music is used to make light of certain situation and a creepy soundtrack is used to express the direness of peak oil. The film is well shot in the best way a 'Talking Head' documentary can possible be. It features many interviews with several important people in the peak oil field. This includes Matthew Simmons, Richard Heinberg, Michael Ruppert, and James Howard Kunstler. Their interviews are cut throughout the documentary. They seem very 'Dooms Day' oriented. All of their predictions are apocalyptic in nature and I can clearly see their negative ideology. The film kept my interest with its content and pace.

The first topic is the about how the suburbs come about. According to the documentary suburbs came about because the city had a low quality of life and technology gave people a way out. First it was the train, then the street car, and followed by the automobile. The automobile has helped to bring about the suburban dream. The government and the auto companies worked to together to help make the car the new form of mass transit.

Then the next subject is the unfortunate fact about oil. The way we built the suburbs are entirely depend on cheap oil. Cheap oil is the blood in the veins of America. The movie provided several fun facts about oil like when oil was first discovered in Texas it was cheaper than drinking water. The unfortunate reality is that oil peaked in the 1970s and this was predicted by the geologist Dr. M. King Hubbert. He saw it coming and people ridiculed him. They said his predictions were a joke because that year oil production was at its highest. The people who doubted Hubbert's prediction were in the year of peak oil. This peak oil stuff is very scary and really sent shock waves down my spine. Finally, the documentary talks about 'New Urbanism' as a way to help ease the issue of peak oil. The 'New Urbanism' is a movement that started in the 80s and seeks to create more walkable cities setups. The ideas want to bring back the old style of planning, which the great American cities were built upon. The demand is actually higher for these areas. The documentary talks about a new development called Stapleton, which was developed along the lines of 'New Urbanism' and it sells at about 25% higher. People want a more walkable and neighborly place to live. I really liked how the documentary expressed the concept of 'New Urbanism'.

A truly scary film. Happening across curmudgeon James Kunstler's rants led me to recently-formed web logs like Life After the Oil Crash (LATOC), Energy Bulletin, and The Oil Drum, and the data behind the theory of Hubbert's Peak. Like this film, LATOC and Kunstler paint a grim picture of die-off or die-back. I hope they're premature, but in mid-2005 rising gasoline prices, rising oil prices, Chevron's Will You Join Us campaign, BP becoming Beyond Petroleum and even T Boone Pickens lend credence to the idea that we are at or near a peak of oil production.

After copious research of limited data, oil investment banker Matt Simmons has suggested that the Saudis may no longer be able to increase production in their immense, but aging fields. In the face of increased demand (primarily from the US and China), the Saudis have not responded with higher production, despite previous assurances. Stated world production from 2000 and 2004 indicates that light, sweet crude has indeed peaked. which means that refining will become more costly.

The film seems aimed at baby boomers, but younger people, our children, also need to understand the implications of an energy-depleted future.