'Syriana' Used in Oil Conservation Calls (AP)

[Up2Late]

(Thank you George Clooney, you might have just changed the debate)

Dec 9, 2:30 PM EST

'Syriana' Used in Oil Conservation Calls

By TIM MOLLOY
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- After years of trying to wean Americans off oil with warnings about arctic drilling and air pollution, some environmentalists are focusing their appeals on national security - and using the movie "Syriana" to help make their points.

The critically acclaimed George Clooney film blames oil dependency for everything from political assassinations to the spread of radical Islam but scarcely mentions the environment. It has, however, helped partner the lefty save-the-Earth movement with an unlikely ally, right-wing national security hawks.

Jon Coifman, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said some members of his group were wary about the alliance but have swallowed their doubts in favor of the greater good. "A lot of liberal coalitions and a lot of liberal individuals will look at these people and say, 'We don't like these guys,'" Coifman said. "But the lines on the political map are being redrawn. I don't think this is going to be a short-term marriage of convenience."

Each side still "reserves the right to knock heads" on other issues, he added. Anne Korin, co-director of the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, acknowledged she "couldn't care less" about global warming or protecting the environment from oil drilling.

<http://staging.hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FILM_SYRIANA_ENVIRONMENTALISTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-12-09-14-30-08>
(more at link above)

[Lisa]

1. I'm hoping to see it tonight ...

I'm going to try to catch the bus downtown in a couple of hours ... I saw that they had the new hybrid bus (no kidding!) working that route, so maybe I'll luck out and get to ride on it!

[Up2Late]

2. You might want to go on an empty stomach

I heard a interview with one of the creators, and they said their are scenes of torture. Sounds very intense and deliberately confusing.

What city are you in that has a Hybrid Bus? We have a lot of Natural Gas busses here in Atlanta, but no Hybrids. I wish we could get a few Hydrogen Fuel Cell Busses.

[4dsc]

5. A hydrogen fuel cell bus??

And that might cost in the $1,00,000 range or BETTER??

Dreamers...

[Up2Late]

6. Hydrogen fuel cell busses have been around for years, several companies...

...have been testing them in Europe, Canada and California, a bus is actually the easiest vehicle in which to use them.



<http://www.utcpower.com/fs/com/bin/fs_com_Page/0,5433,03552,00.html>

http://4hydrogen.com/about.html#cell


<http://www.hydrogenconference.org/photos.asp#null>

<http://www.hydrogenics.com/power/targetapplications.asp>

[4dsc]

10. So....

They also race "solar powered" cars but you'll never see any partical use from them. Just as you'll see a couple of hydrogen cars and busses but you'll never see them in the millions.. They will never replace the gas and desiel driven cars and trucks we have now..


Its a pipe dream..

[primavera]

11. 100 years ago...

It was the horse they then knew that would never be replaced by the automobile, which then was but "a pipe dream," along with electricity, telephones, and all of the other crazy dreams that are now such commonplace items we take them for granted. Good thing human beings have individuals with greater vision, otherwise homo sapiens would never have descended from the trees.

[Up2Late]

13. That has to be about the most lame comparison ever.

Comparing Solar Powered race cars to Hydrogen Fuel Cell powered Buses is like the old Apples to Oranges comparison.

Solar powered cars, through years of testing, HAVE proved to not be practical transportation solution, not to say that they haven't advanced science, I'm sure they have, but Fuel cell busses are different. Have major corporations, like Daimler Chrysler and British Petroleum, ever made major investments in Solar Powered race cars?

Well they have with Fuel Cell Buses. All major new technologies start out expensive, but if it's a technological advancement, they eventually come down in price.

London and 8 other cities in Europe and Perth (Western Australia) have been operating them since 2003 and have already logged over 1 Million miles and 70,000 operating hours.

<http://www.fuel-cell-bus-club.com/index.php?module=pagesetter&func=viewpub&tid=1&pid=158>

Here's links to more info about this:

<http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/fuel-cell-buses.asp#trial>

<http://www.fuel-cell-bus-club.com/index.php?module=pagesetter&func=viewpub&tid=1&pid=2>

I'm sure glad we don't have more people who think the way you do, we would all be sitting next to our radios doing calculations on Slide-rules.

I don't know if you remember the 1970's but, back in about 1975 when Bill Gates said he thought eventually, everyone would have a "Personal Computer" on their desks, I'm fairly sure they said that was a pipe dream too.

Here's a tip: Never use the word Never, you will almost always be wrong when you do.

[justasoldier]

19. good post

[Lisa]

12. actually, BC Transit does have a couple of prototypes, in Vancouver

... but not on the Island.

They've got a bunch of gas-electric hybrids, instead. Much quieter than the standard type (which, at least for certain models, tended to rattle a bit).

I didn't get one on the way down, but I did on the way back.




http://www.bctransit.com/regions/kel/news/hybrid_electric.cfm



Oh, and now that I've seen the movie -- seconded on the empty stomach. I don't generally eat while I'm in theaters anyway, which in this case was a very good thing.

[Up2Late]

15. Were their Torture scenes and were they really bad?

If yes, did they last very long?

That sort of thing REALLY bothers me, and is the one major reason I'm hesitant to go see this movie.

[Lisa]

16. they didn't last for long onscreen, but ...

... they felt like they did. I have seen the original film "Saw", and others, so I don't consider myself to be particularly sensitive. But while the incident dramatized in "Syriana" only lasts a few minutes onscreen, it has a tremendous impact -- more so than an entire horror flick, in my assessment. (The audience gasped and some people cried out involuntarily -- a similar crowd in the same theatre laughed derisively during violent fight scenes at a couple of summer blockbusters.)

If I saw "Syriana" again, I have to admit that I probably won't be able to watch that particular scene.

A couple of friends of mine have expressed interest in the movie, and I am actually going to caution one of them (not something I normally do for films) -- since it's pretty evident that this is based on real situations and not Hollywood fantasy violence. Actually, it may not even be as bad as some of the things which really have happened -- William Sampson and Maher Arar, for example -- the physical marks may not have been as evident as in the film, but those guys lived with it for months and months.

This one friend of mine lived in Iran many years ago, and I am concerned that seeing the film might bring back some terrible memories for her. (Several of her husband's friends disappeared under the Shah's regime, and were never heard from again ... it was later revealed that they had been held, for a time, in a secret prison which was located -- believe it or not -- deep underneath the playground of a neighborhood school.) I'm going to leave it up to her to decide, because she approves very strongly of the film's premise, and wants people to talk about these issues.

[ret5hd]

17. the only "dreamin" goin' on...

is by those that think more oil is a long term solution.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[NYdemocrat089]

4. I wanted to see it tonight. I even offered to pay for my friend to see it

with me, but when we called the theater to find out waht time it starts at we found out that it isn't playing here. I'm pissed! I've been waiting weeks to see it.

[don954]

3. i gota get out and see this movie this weekend

i hear its dam good.

[jab105]

7. Just got back from seeing it...want to see it again...

there are multiple stories going on during the film...need to be sure that i catch all of it...

Was excellent...really goes into detail on what we do to protect our oil interests, no matter what kind of destabilization occurs because of it...

[texpatriot2004]

8. Me too and me too nm

[drgoodword]

9. Saw Syriana last weekend

I saw the film last weekend (Toronto was one of the cities that got the limited initial release) and I found it a largely impressive work. Although some of the storytelling aspects of Syriana were, imo, a little weak, this wide-spectrum look at the oil industry and America's corrupt relationship with the ME oil producers makes for a compelling political movie. The storyline dealing with a young Pakistani's journey to terrorism was, I think, treated with rare intelligence and humanity.

While veteran students of the middle east and America's oil politics won't have trouble following the film's many complexities, I'm not sure that someone unfamiliar with the film's context will find it as uniformly interesting. Nevertheless, I hope it does F911-level business, and gets a few more people thinking about all that goes into our standard of life and what is done to sustain it.

As for "peak oil" in Syriana, it's briefly alluded to, but not explicitly discussed. I'm sure that as the peak comes--and especially directly after it passes--there will be all kinds of movies about it.

On another note...in this thread's initial post, this line caught my eye:

Anne Korin, co-director of the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, acknowledged she "couldn't care less" about global warming...

I went to the Analysis of Global Security's website and found the following information about Anne Korin:

Her education includes engineering degree in computer science from Johns Hopkins University and work towards a doctorate at Stanford University.

That such a highly educated (and a science education) individual "couldn't care less" about global warming is heartbreaking.

[Up2Late]

14. I heard an NPR interview with the CIA agent who's book it's based on...

...and he said the director made it deliberatly confusing to create the feeling of un-ease and tension so that you walk out feeling the system is broken. Below is a link to the interview, where you can find even more links to reviews, also, if you put the word "Syriana" into the search box at NPR, you'll find 3 more links.

Ex-CIA Agent Robert Baer, Inspiration for 'Syriana'

Listen to this story...(at link above)
by Robert Siegel

All Things Considered, December 6, 2005 · Former CIA officer
Robert Baer's book See No Evil inspired the new film Syriana,
about the Middle East, the oil industry and espionage. Baer
discusses the film and separates cinematic fact from fiction.

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5041385>

[Up2Late]

18. kick n/t

:kick:

[blindpig]

20. It must be damned effective.

My father-in -law, a RW ex Marine DI, saw it last week and boy, has his tune changed! Cursing the oil companies and the administration, whodda thunk? Mz bp said,"Yes Dad, we've known for a while, you've got to see Farenheit 911." He muttered,"yeah, maybe." It's a start.