Jessie Deeter Movies
Filmmaker Chris Payne explores the many factors that played into the ultimate failure of the electric car to catch on with consumers, even as gas prices began to skyrocket, in a thoughtful meditation on the increasingly important role that renewable energy plays in modern society. Introduced as a means of providing an alternative to increasing oil consumption and reducing pollution in 1996, the electric car was all but a forgotten memory only a decade later -- but why? Though interviews with consumer advocacy experts, automotive industry experts, and oil industry heavyweights, Payne paints a though-provoking picture of a culture whose aversion to change and reliance on dwindling resources may be rooted in the financial concerns of a wealthy few, and may also be leading consumers down a troubling path. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greg "Gadget" Abbott, Dave Barthmuss, (more)
- 2002
Modern Meat states that 5,000 people die each year in the United States from food poisoning, many from tainted meat. Is American meat, Frontline asks, safe? Many consumers began to question the safety of meat in 1993 when 600 people who had eaten at the Jack in the Box chain became sick with an unknown illness. Eventually, investigators learned that the culprit was a new strain of E. coli. While many embraced HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) technology as a method for detecting bacteria in the wake of the outbreak, the meat industry fought federal regulations. Despite opposition, the USDA persevered and by 1996 new regulations had been adopted and salmonella levels began to drop. Unsafe meat, however, continued to appear in supermarkets and many pointed to an increase in imported meat. Others were troubled by a federal ruling in favor of the meat industry in early 2002. The appeals court agreed that the government did not have the right to shut down Supreme Beef's operations, even when a plant failed to meet the USDA salmonella standards. Modern Meat includes interviews with industry and government officials. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Movie Guide
- 2001
In 2000, rolling blackouts in California made front-page news. The state's electric bill had gone from seven billion in 1999 to 27 million dollars in 2000. A 40-dollar kilowatt hour now cost as much as 1,900 dollars. The reason for the shortage, though, was unclear. Within the Bush administration, many argued that past government regulation restricted the market from responding to the crisis. Others, including Governor Gray Davis, believed Enron and Duke Power were squeezing the market. Complaints and lawsuits were filed, accusing these companies of manipulating markets to increase profits. At the bottom of the crisis lay the deregulation of many power plants that allowed third parties to act as power-supply brokers. When private companies assumed ownership of power plants in California and other states, they were free to sell kilowatt-hours to companies like Enron. Enron, in turn, sold the kilowatts on the open market for the going price. Frontline: Blackout includes interviews with Vice President Dick Cheney, Governor Gray Davis, and a number of state and federal officials. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Movie Guide
