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Ethanol documentary takes a provocative look at oil industry

A documentary designed to change the way people think about renewable fuels — called “PUMP The Movie” — has been showing around the country, including this week in Lincoln. Screened at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center for about 100 attendees at an event hosted by the Nebraska Ethanol Board, the film takes a provocative look at the oil industry, the grip it has on the nation’s motor fuels and what competition might mean if alternative fuels could gain a meaningful share of the nation’s gas tanks.

It is a question with Great Plains-sized ramifications for the Midwest, where Iowa and Nebraska rank first and third in corn production, and first and second in production of ethanol from corn. Iowa has 42 plants, Nebraska 24, part of a U.S. fleet of about 225 built with a capital investment of about $230 billion in recent years.

Read more at: North Platte Telegraph

100 turn out for screening of PUMP in Nebraska

A documentary designed to change the way people think about renewable fuels — called “PUMP The Movie” — has been showing around the country, including this week in Lincoln. Screened at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center for about 100 attendees at an event hosted by the Nebraska Ethanol Board, the film takes a provocative look at the oil industry, the grip it has on the nation’s motor fuels and what competition might mean if alternative fuels could gain a meaningful share of the nation’s gas tanks.

Read more at: Omaha World Herald

Hey Nebraskans, 1 in 10 of you drives a flex-fuel vehicle

Nebraska is the nation’s third-leading corn producer (behind Iowa and Illinois), and it’s also fertile ground for the ethanol industry.

As the state Department of Agriculture notes, Nebraska has 25 operating ethanol plants that produce more than 1.2 billion gallons of ethanol a year. These operations employ about 3,000 people.

So it’s no surprise that Nebraskans are ahead of much of the nation when it comes to adopting ethanol as a transportation fuel. There are 67 stations in the state where E85 (a blend of up to 85 percent ethanol and the rest traditional gasoline) is available, according to the Alternative Fuels Data Center.

About 10 percent of Nebraskans drive a vehicle that is branded flex-fuel, with the tell-tale badge on the rear or a yellow gas cap, meaning it can run any ethanol concentration (including E85) or gasoline or any blend of the two. The benefits of running E85 in a flex-fuel vehicle are numerous: It’s often cheaper than regular gas, even when you account for the roughly 30 percent reduction in fuel economy compared with gas; ethanol produces less toxic pollutants that harm health, and fewer greenhouse-gas emissions that harm the environment. The vehicle’s engine also has more power and better performance on ethanol.

In a story in the Grand Island Independent by Robert Pore this week, Gov. Dave Heineman encouraged Nebraskans who own flex-fuel vehicles to support the state’s ethanol industry, and take advantage of a renewable resource grown locally, by filling up with E85. “E85 continues to gain popularity across our state and country – allowing us to continue to reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” Heineman said.

Nebraskans will have the opportunity to learn more about ethanol and other replacement fuels during a free screening of the Fuel Freedom Foundation-produced documentary “PUMP” on Nov. 12 on the University of Nebraska campus in Lincoln. The film will be shown at 7 p.m. at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, 313 N. 13th Street. As this calendar notice on the Lincoln Journal Star website notes, the screening will be hosted by the Nebraska Ethanol Board, the Urban Air Initiative and the Association of Nebraska Ethanol Producers. After the film, Doug Durante, executive director of the Clean Fuels Development Coalition, will lead a brief panel discussion and take questions from the audience.

“PUMP” is playing in theaters in several other cities, including Anchorage and Tucson. Visit PUMPTheMovie.com for more information.

Hollander: Oil is a ‘burden for the American people’

Fuel Freedom co-founder and Chairman Yossie Hollander guided PUMP the movie to a successful weekend in Atlanta, hosting two Q&As after Friday night’s and Saturday night’s showings at the historic Plaza Theatre.

He also promoted the film and its message on radio, appearing on both WMLB-AM1690 (“The Voice of the Arts”) and its sister station, WCFO-AM1160 (“The Talk of the Town”). You can listen to the first interview below:

During the segment, Hollander was asked how he got involved with PUMP, a project more than two years in the making.

He answered: “We realized long ago that oil is one of the toughest problems we have. We are funding our enemies, but it’s mainly a burden for the American people. It’s the air we breathe. The brown cloud you see above Atlanta is not from coal, it’s from oil.

“And mostly it’s the burden on our pockets. Families really suffer, and we figured out this is the biggest problem that we can solve. If we can do it with cheaper American fuels, we can actually change America.”

Here’s the second interview, on WCFO, which aired Saturday and Sunday:

PUMP premiered in September and continues to play in theaters around the country. This week it debuts in Tucson, Anchorage and Brunswick, Maine. Visit PumpTheMovie.com for theaters and times, and to buy tickets.

PUMP The Movie: Coverage weekend opening in Atlanta

PUMP Review
Last One to Leave the Theater Blog
The film does an excellent job of showing how much our economy is dependent on oil, but the film isn’t all about bad news.

 

PUMP Review
Outtakes Atlanta
The American relationship with oil is tricky, to say the least. Demand is high, and has been for decades, but it’s not exactly popular. Pump looks to take this contradiction and suggest alternatives.

 

“PUMP – How, When and Why to End Our Oil Reliance
Kids First!
Riveting! This film examines the story of oil addiction in America. The question is, do we have a choice of fuel?

 

“Pump”
Kids First!
[Video] Kid Critic review by Keefer Blakeslee

 

PUMP
Medium Rare
Pump begins as a secret history, taking on shades of a conspiratorial thriller, before concluding as a kind of glossy propaganda pitch for every American’s right to energy independence.

PUMP – How, When and Why to End Our Oil Reliance

PUMP is an eye-opening documentary that tells the story of America’s addiction to oil, from its corporate conspiracy beginnings to its current monopoly today, and explains clearly and simply how we can end it and finally win choice at the pump. This film is well researched and easy to understand. The directors, Joshua and Rebecca Tickell won a Sundance award for their 2008 documentary Fuel. 

Read more at: Working Mother

Review: ‘Pump’ is too perfect

America’s obsession with oil is on tap in Pump, the latest film by husband-wife documentarian duo Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell. Their previous film, Fuel, Freedom and The Big Fix, also focused on the hazards of America’s oil dependence, so it’s no surprise that Pump – which premiered in the D.C. area Oct. 6 – tackles the issue head on, with the goal of advocating for alternative fuel solutions.

Read more at: Washington Jewish Week

PUMP – Special Screening with Q&A presented by Fuel Freedom Foundation

The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana is proud to bring you an eye-opening investigation into the United States’ problematic love affair with fossil fuels. Husband and wife team Joshua and Rebecca Harrell Tickell’s Pump is an exciting presentation of both long- and short-term solutions to our nation’s current oil addiction. The film seeks to explore what real individuals can do to make necessary change in their communities, approaching issues from the level of real human beings.