BuzzFlash Reviews

July 2005

Oil on Ice (DVD)

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS

Above all, "Oil on Ice" is a breathtakingly photographed documentary that reveals the vast beauty of the Alaska Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and what is at stake in its potential use for oil exploration. What's more, it is carefully documented to detail how the oil development will negatively impact the natural life and balance in the majestic setting. The mass migration of Caribou is a stunning site in and of itself, which symbolizes the glorious wilderness of northern Alaska.

The filmmakers also introduce you to members of the Gwich'in tribe and other native Alaskans whose subsistence living off the land is threatened by the oil development of ANWR. You come to know these people as individuals who are deeply proud of their heritage and ability to sustain themselves off of their natural environment.

As one review of the film noted, "Central to the controversy is the coastal portion of the refuge, a 1.5 million-acre area known as Section 1002, where drilling would be allowed -- but only with an act of Congress.

More than 90 percent of the coast is already open to oil exploration or development, the film states. In early 1989, President George H.W. Bush tried to open the area to drilling...., but efforts died after the Exxon Valdez tanker hit a reef and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound later that year."

The documentary follows an 11-day trip along the Hulahula River, which flows down from the Brooks Range and northward to the Arctic Sea.

The director of "Oil on Ice," Dale Djerassi, allows the viewer plenty of time to savor the beauty of the scenery, while he also brings in documentation of the likely negative impact the oil companies will have on the region.

As we watched this film, we were struck by the thought of how Republicans who say they value God so much are so dead set on scarring an area that evokes the divine peace and serenity of creation. It's just further proof of their hypocrisy.

Meanwhile, "Oil on Ice" reveals to us what we are about to lose to greed and a thirst for oil, a depletable resource, that cannot be quenched. At some point, the oil will run out, but ANWR will never be restored to its pristine beauty.

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