PermaKent Permaculture Ideas of J. Kent Hastings

Josh Tickell’s movie, Fields of Fuel, which promotes biodiesel over petroleum based fuel, won the audience prize at Sundance 2008 for the Best Documentary. The cast list includes Barbara Boxer, Richard Branson, Sheryl Crow, Laurie David, Larry David, James Gennaro, Larry Hagman, Woody Harrelson, Jay Inslee, Jack Johnson, Bud McFarlane, Willie Nelson, Director Josh Tickell, Neil Young and Jim Woolsey.

Here’s an excerpt from the description (after the cast list) on the site:

“Tickell tracks the rising domination of the petrochemical industry—from Rockefeller’s strategy to halt ethanol use in Ford’s first cars to the mysterious death of Rudolph Diesel at the height of his biodiesel engine’s popularization, to our government’s choice to declare war after 9/11, rather than wean the country from fossil fuel.”

According to Wikipedia:

“Despite improving the quality and availability of kerosene products while greatly reducing their cost to the public (the price of kerosene dropped by nearly 80% over the life of the company), Standard Oil’s business practices created intense controversy.”

Too bad Standard Oil gas prices can’t fall 80% today.

I believe both John D. Rockefeller, Sr. and Jr.’s opposition to ethanol was in alignment with their sincere belief in the Temperance movement, not some purely cynical class war conspiracy. I can’t find the link now, but I remember reading that Rockefeller the Elder’s father was a ruined drunk who abandoned his mother. (I could certainly be wrong about that).

Junior eventually admitted that Prohibition wasn’t working as intended. His public change of heart aided the repeal effort, which contradicts the theory that all he cared about was competition to gasoline.

Continuing the Fields of Fuel description excerpt:

“Never minimizing the complexities of ending oil dependence, Tickell uncovers a hopeful reality pointing toward a decentralized, sustainable energy infrastructure—like big rigs tanking up on biofuel at Carl’s Corner Texas truck stop, a new Brooklyn biodiesel plant serving three states, a miraculous Arizona algae-based fuel farm, and the Swedish public voting to be petroleum free by 2020.”

Fields of Fuel is must viewing for anyone interested in alternative renewable energy.

Here’s the trailer at YouTube:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 4:23 am and is filed under Carbon Dioxide, Energy, Freedom, Health, Peace, Pollution, Self Reliance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.