Best,
Brent Baker and the Tri-State Biodiesel Team
See the Award-Winning Eco-Documentary this Weekend in New York
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Josh Tickell
Director, Fields of Fuel
310-452-7731
New York City Showcases Sundance Film To Dispel Biofuel Myths
The Go Green Expo and the Sustainability Film Festival will screen a film to address the recent bad press around biofuels. The film, titled Fields of Fuel, which won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in January, details the toxic effects of petroleum use and shows ways of creating sustainable energy including non-food based biodiesel, a vegetable-oil based diesel fuel substitute.
Presented by Producers Greg Reitman of Blue Water Entertainment and Dale Rosenbloom of Open Pictures, Fields of Fuel chronicles Josh Tickell's personal journey as a man who is showing Americans how to take back their country one gas tank at a time. He takes celebrities, scientists and world energy experts on an alternative power trip through Louisiana's polluted bayous, Detroit's misguided corporations and Washington's corrupt practices. At its core, the film reveals the true price we are paying for a barrel of oil. That price is ultimately our freedom. Tickell presents a simple and immediately applicable solution strategy utilizing existing infrastructure to secure America's energy independence and boost the economy.
Biofuels have recently come under criticism as unsustainable and as a blight to those who depend on cheap grain prices. This month, Time Magazine featured a cover photo of corn wrapped in money and links biofuels to deforestation. But is the recent downturn in opinion on home-grown energy justified?
Fields of Fuel director and author of two books on biodiesel, Josh Tickell, says there are other factors at play in what he calls "the anti-biofuels" lobby. According to Tickell, the American Petroleum Institute, the de facto trade organization for the oil industry, is polarizing millions into their anti-biofuels campaign. "They hired Edleman, the same PR company that manages the big environmental brands. They're playing both sides of the game," says Tickell.
One needs only look to the nearest gas station signage to see why big oil might not want competitors products at the pump. Gas prices have hit new highs this spring and prices are expected to continue to rise. As if high pump prices weren't enough, a 160-square-mile chunk of ice recently broke off the Wilkins Ice Shelf in western Antarctica.
"The film is vitally important to New Yorkers because it will help people to understand that they can get involved in this great movement for a sustainable world," says Brent Baker, founder of TriState Biodiesel and cast member of Fields of Fuel. Of individual action, Baker says, "this is such a crucial time between high energy costs and global warming. We can't afford to wait."
Fields of Fuel will be screened twice over the weekend: At 4:00 PM on Saturday, April 26th as part of the Go Green Expo in Gramercy Room A and at 1:00 PM on Sunday as part of the Sustainability Film Festival in the Nassau B room. Both screenings take place at the Hilton Hotel at 1335 Avenue of the Americas in New York City.
