By Brian Jordan
Reminiscent of the band REM’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It,” the documentary, “A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash,” makes claims that the world is running out of accessible oil, with no alternative fuel source to replace it.
The film played Thursday at 7 p.m. to conclude the Husky Energy Action Team’s (HEAT) Renewable Energy Week.
The screening, which was set to play on the West Village Quad, was moved indoors due to poor weather conditions.
“If renewable energy cost the same as oil does, then there’d be no problem,” said Dan Abrams, director of marketing and public relations for HEAT.
Energy Manager at Northeastern Joe Ranahan said he thinks the problem with alternative fuels is that the technology is not really there. Ranahan said current solar and wind technology can barely pay for its own equipment before it breaks down, and is simply more expensive than a petroleum power source.
“As technology increases and the price of oil increases, there will be a point, not that far away, when these technologies start to make sense economically,” he said.
The documentary insinuated that the end of petroleum could potentially mean the end of the industrial world as we know it.
A scientist in the documentary said a student asked him if his grandchildren will ever fly in an airplane. The answer, he said, might be no.
Middler English major Sam Hammond criticized the film, saying he had issues on how oil is linked to war and the economy.
“I understand those relationships, but I wanted to see how deep it goes,” Hammond said. “There weren’t too many moments where they would use facts to shock you.”
Hammond watched the film because the upcoming presidential election would be the first he would be able to take part in, and he wanted to be well informed, he said.
Executive Co-Director of HEAT Dominique McCadden said the group wants the university to take a more proactive role in promoting alternative energy, something Abrams said he agreed with.
“Money should not be the issue here,” Abrams said. “The issue should be climate control and being environmentally sustainable.”
Ranahan said an expensive undertaking like a renewable energy project would force the university to raise tuition and he said he thinks students are not as worried about installing renewable energy on campus as they are about making their next tuition payment.
The Electric Power Research Institute installed solar panels on the roof of the Curry Student Center in 1994, but Ranahan said they were part of an experiment by the Environmental Protection Agency.
To compensate for what McCadden called a “lack of initiative” from the university, she said HEAT, the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Resident Student Association (RSA) are promoting a student-generated Renewable Energy Fund to go toward promoting alternative energy projects on campus.
HEAT, SGA and RSA are hoping to arrange a dollar-for-dollar match of the fund from the university by next year, she said.
As part of Renewable Energy Week HEAT was an exhibitor at the “Boston Greenfest” education festival yesterday at City Hall Plaza, and the “Clean and Green Forum” will be on Wednesday, Oct. 29.
– News staff Maggie Cassidy
contributed to this report.
