Sidney Garrido

English 2010
Professor Wecker


Have You Ever Met a Roman?


One thing that the history of
civilization has taught us is that
civilizations fall. Not one society in the
history of the world has survived the
test of time. Some have lasted longer
than others, and the question is how
long will we last? The population of
the world is growing, and so has the
demand for energy, after all we need it
to power the growth of the world.
Trillions of dollars are currently being
spent on manufacturing and
producing energy resources. The
demand for energy can literally be
seen all over the U.S. and just recently
in the back yard of Utahns. Currently
20 million acres of Utahs public lands
are being considered for resource
excavation. Further research into the
issue has made me realize 20 million
acres is miniscule in comparison to
the big picture.
Through my research on Utahs
potential role in the future of energy
production, I came across a very
inspirational documentary called
Houston, We Have a Problem. This film
was full of educational information
concerning the history of natural
resource production such as oil, and
gas. It was extremely refreshing to get
information from such a diverse group
of parties including big oil corporation
CEOs, current and past presidents
and world leaders, environmentalists,
and perspectives from alternative
groups. This film review examines the
significance of the message and the
impact made by the different
viewpoints portrayed in the film and
analyzes the intention of the film
makers.
The film Houston, We Have a
Problem displays information and
facts in a very profound way, a lot of
the information comes straight from
the mouths of the parties represented
in the film. They objectively present
economical, educational, and
historical facts with biased views in an
unbiased manor, by telling one story
from multiple views. A refreshing
perspective featured in the film is that
of Big Oil, no depicted as crooks, but
as and honesty representation of
themselves. CEOs of multi billion
dollar corporations talking to the
camera sharing their view on oil
production and the way they see
themselves. We (Americans) dont
even have a clue, when you turn on
the light switch for electricity how
many Americans could tell you fifty
percent is generated by coal, thirty
percent is nuclear, and twenty percent
by natural gas? Ill bet you one in five
thousand, if that. The fact that we
dont know that is a dangerous,
dangerous thing for our country.
(Hackett) Big Oil shares statistics
about energy use and the cost to
produce energy face to face with the
camera and you get to see them as
individuals as opposed to one mass.


We also see multiple views
from current and past presidencies,
like Jimmy Carter, who put solar
panels on the white house, and to the
public through out history, and the
three hour lines for gas in the 70s.

Oil and gas have impacted
society from the economy, to how we
live life today. Right now we depend
on other countries for oil, if one of any
of the countries we depend on wanted
to hurt the U.S. and her economy, they
would just have to cut off our oil
supply.
In debates amongst politicians, and
media now days only the extremes are
mentioned. This film does
acknowledge the extremes like
corporations, government, and
environmentalists, but it also shares
the space in between, like advocates
for alternative energy. For me, the
thing that made this film so influential
is the space in between the extremes,
the bridge between environmentalists
and corporations. In the space in
between the extremes are people who
are working towards alternative
solutions, they are looking for
answers in unconventional ways, just
because these ways have never been
attempted before doesnt mean they
are wrong, and it doesnt mean the oil
companies are wrong either. This film
explains the problem, and proposes a
solution, and inspires others to begin
solving the problem on a personal
level. One advocate Van Jones made it
simple when he said: So weve been
taking our carbon out of the ground
and putting it up in the air, thats
called the combustible engine, thats
called the industrial revolution, and
we got to stop doing that, we are going
to bake the planet, and at the same
time we need to respect the people in
the coal industry and the oil industry
who have gotten us to this point, they
are heros in a way, theyve got society
from the horse and buggy to the jet
age, but they need to be retired with
dignity, and honor, we need to stop
the name calling and work together. It
is possible to go from the oil age to the
solar age, where, the wisdom and the
genius of our existing energy sector is
tapped and utilized, they know more
about energy than any one else, we
need to use that genius for the next
stage. I believe this film discusses a
lot of valid material that we as living
creatures on this planet need to take
into consideration, and significance of
the message is something that can
appeal to everyone.
Being able to review this
documentary with the twenty million
acres of Utahs public lands still in
mind, had a profound affect of me, this
is an on going issue that has been
around since we started using oil and
gas, and will continue to affect us. We
are the only ones who can decide how
much or how little. The roman
civilization is long gone, but they are
still talked of today, I wonder, how
will we be remembered?

Works Cited

DRC Corp. Trend in Oil Production and Value. Digital image. Www.drc.virgina.gov. DRC, 29
Feb. 1995. Web. 01 Apr. 2014. <http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/virginia_naturally/erg-
virginias-mineral-and-energy-resources.shtml>.

Hackett, James T. "In Text Citation." Houston, We Have a Problem. 01 Apr. 2014. Speech.

Houston, We Have a Problem. Dir. Nicole Torre. Perf. David S. Barron, Craig Fields, John P.
Tarver, Chad Willson. IMDbPro Production Co., 2009. DVD.

Jones, Van. "Green for All." Green World (2008): n. pag. NatureWeb. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

Jones/Green For All, Van. "In Text Citation." Houston, We Have a Problem. 01 Apr. 2014.
Speech.

Kirkdegard, Jay. Countries by Size of Oil Reserves. Digital image. Citygas Blog Spot. Citygas, 21
Oct. 2009. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

Solar Panels on White House. Digital image. History of Panels. Solar Systems USA, 09 Mar.
2007. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.