Beyond Thunderdome

I’m a Mad Max movie buff so I couldn’t resist writing a post comparing the energy embargo scene in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome to our current world oil addiction.  Beyond Thunderdome is set in a post-apocalyptic world where we’ve destroyed civilization and a few survivors struggle to live on the leftovers of mankind.  Bartertown is one of the towns where people have gathered to live.  Deep underground, there is a large pig farm where workers feed and raise pigs to produce methane to power the generators that provide electricity to Bartertown.

Tina Turner is the leader of Bartertown on the surface but Master Blaster, the leader of the pig farmers underground, demonstrates that he has the real control.  He controls the energy supply.  At one of the key scenes of the movie, Master Blaster turns off the power and makes Tina Turner announce to the whole town that, “Master Blaster runs Bartertown.” After she submits to him, he turns the power back on.

I can’t help but call out the similarities between the United States and Bartertown.  We are addicted to oil.  Everything we do and use is somehow tied to oil.  From transportation to plastics; from fertilizers to animal feed.  They are all directly tied to petroleum.

Unfortunately, we cannot produce enough of our own oil to meet demand.  We purchase it from countries and regions that mostly do not like America.  Now that China and India are industrializing, these oil producing countries will soon not need the United States to sell their product.  As world demand for oil continues to grow and supplies become more difficult to extract and process, these oil producers will be able to pull the strings and hold our economy hostage.

You don’t think this could happen to the US? Think again. In October of 1973, some of the Arab members of OPEC proclaimed an oil embargo in reponse to the US resupplying Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The embargo was lifted only after the US helped negotiate the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Golan Heights. I remember the lines at gas stations and only being able to fill up on odd or even days.

Who runs Bartertown?  Who controls the United States?  OPEC will… if we don’t do something about it soon.

For those of you who haven’t seen the Mad Max movies, here is the embargo clip from Beyond Thunderdome.

Present Day Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Tonight, I watched the Imax movie, Arabia, at the Fernbank Museum and enjoyed the history lesson in the Two Golden Ages of Arabia.  The first was led by the Nabataean culture and the natural resource that created their empire was frankincense and other spices.  The Roman Empire’s polytheistic worship drove the insatiable demand for the exotic spice trade dominated by the Nabataeans.

The second golden age was led by King Abdul Aziz who conquered vast land masses in the Arabian Peninsula and formed the nation of Saudi Arabia.  The natural resource that created their empire was oil and the Western World’s thirst to drive the machines of the 20th Century.  Saudi Arabia’s domination is now shared with Arab nations that have this natural resource in common, including Iran and Iraq.  Every year, the US transfers hundreds of billions of dollars of GDP to the Arab Peninsula to fund our addiction to petroleum.

The last segment described how Arab nations are using this vast wealth from oil as the catalyst for the third golden age of Arabia.

The next golden age needs to be led by the West and the natural resource should be clean energy.  The United States and other countries that support freedom for their people need to lead the charge toward clean sources of energy.  It is time for us to wean ourselves from our addiction to petroleum and create innovative alternatives to fossil fuels.

Roll up your sleeves and let’s get started.