Written on: October 25, 2012 by ICM
Was thinking about all the bad press, images, opinions and prejudices associated with oil products. In fact, the word “oil” has become to some, all that is wrong with the world today. Foreign wars, corporate greed, environmental disaster, extremists in the Mid East, dirty air, water, ground…you name it—oil caused it.
Then I imagined where we would be without it. The truth is, the world had changed very little from the time of the ancient Egyptians right up through the middle of the nineteenth century…all before the practical discovery of oil.
Power came from fire, water, wind or muscle.
Light came from burning some animal product in small, smokey, dark lamps and travel was essentially the speed of a walking person, or if you were really lucky, a horse.
Materials for clothing, furnishings, tools, building products and transportation were what you found on the ground or growing out of it.
I would go so far to suggest that if we had not discovered oil and its myriad uses by now, we would be begging for it.
Picture a news item that excitedly told of a new discovery…Oil! It would be heralded as the Holy Grail of modern society.
It is powerful.
It is versatile.
It is a liquid, making it easy to store and transport.
It is safe.
It is biodegradable.
It it naturally produced.
It is right under our feet.
You can heat, cool, move, manufacture, weave, and do thousands of other things with it.
The positive impact on the world’s standard of living is immeasurable. There is almost nothing we do, or wear, or eat, or go that does not directly rely on oil.
Yet, somehow this magic bullet of energy has become evil. You have to ask, how did this happen, how did the Oil industries allow such a vital product to become vilified?
Where did it all go wrong?
