The End of Suburbia: Is the American Dream Built on an Oil Dependency?
Since World War II, North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too has the suburban way of life become embedded in the American consciousness. Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply.
Peak oil production is such a scary inevitability because it takes a finite resource that was once cheap and easy to extract, to a scarce, finite resource that the world is ever-more dependent upon. As the global markets become more dependent on this (so-called) 'black gold' the demand rises and production must expand or keep pace with the needed supply. We have now created a global infrastructure of oil dependence which depends on militaristic (or 'mili-terrific,' depending on who you ask) conflict for advantageous extraction.
What these documentaries and I are trying to make the average citizen aware of is that we, collectively, as a public and people, should be concerned, and pushing toward alternative forms of energy. If we (Americans) took a fraction of the money we spend on oil extraction and production and spent it on research and development of alternative energy sources, it would be a better long-term investment of our time and money. However, large oil companies--and the industry--are not going to make the public aware of such problems because they are only working within their own self-interest, which our economic model dictates.
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