The Bronze Age lasted 2,500 years; the Iron Age 1,100. As technology becomes more sophisticated one age is quickly overtaken by the next. What should we call the period dominated by petroleum products? “Age” seems too expansive a term for what will be an eyeblink of history; perhaps we should call it the “Oil Moment.”
The Oil Moment, future history books will record, lasted from about 1880, when the first commercial oil wells began hitting their stride, until 2040, when the last battles were fought for a diminishing supply.
The Oil Moment had four distinct phases, each of which lasted 40 years. The Early phase, 1880 to 1920, was marked by oil strikes throughout North America and rapid development of technologies to take advantage of petroleum products. The second, or Golden, phase – 1920 to 1960 – saw a global conversion to fossil fuels, primarily oil, global exploration for oil deposits, led by American oil companies, full exploitation of petroleum technologies, including “green revolution” petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers and the rise and global spread of plastics.
The third, or Turning Point, phase of the Oil Moment began in 1960 and saw the grim beginnings of decline. Around 1970, the United States reached the halfway point in oil production. That’s to say that 33 years ago, America had pumped and burned half the oil within its political boundaries. Three years later, the Arab Oil Embargo crippled the U.S. economy and made clear the extent to which industrialized countries were dependent on oil. At the time, the United States imported about one-third of the oil it consumed. By the time the Turning Point phase of the Oil Moment ended in 2000, the U.S. would be importing more than half its oil.
It was in the third phase of the Oil Moment that we began to discover the effects of petroleum combustion on our environment. From the flammable Cuyahoga River in Cleveland to the hottest years in the history of meteorology – 1998 still holds the record – we realized the unwanted products of Oil Moment will be with us long after we have wrung the last profit from its use.
The third phase witnessed the commencement of widespread oil violence. To be sure, oil manipulation had played a role in world politics in the 1940s, when the Allied nations courted the Arabian Saud family for control of its oil resource. Oil was the reason the United States installed Reza Pahlevi on Iran’s Peacock Throne in the 1950s. By 1975, Indonesia, with the blessing of President Gerald Ford, began a brutal occupation of East Timor, to control its offshore oil reserves. Since then, oil violence has raged in Nigeria, in Chechnya, in Colombia and Iraq. Oil plays a significant, although not absolute, role in the violence in Lebanon, Israel and Palestine.
Right now, world oil production equals a half-gallon per person per day. Americans, however, don’t use a half-gallon per person per day; we use two and a half gallons per person per day. For 290 million Americans to get two and a half gallons each, every day, then over one billion people – one out of six on Earth – get none. That’s why the oil wars are just beginning. That’s why the resentment of Americans and the terrorist attacks are just beginning.
We are now in the fourth and final phase of the Oil Moment, the Savage Decline. Our armed forces stand poised to launch a second oil war in Iraq. It costs American citizens $11,000 a second to maintain the American military. In the time it takes to read this commentary, our war machine will have spent about $2 million.
A report from the Department of Defense Science Board said, “The United States uses more petroleum than the next five largest consuming nations combined. Military consumption for aircraft, ships, ground vehicles and facilities make the Department of Defense the largest single consumer of petroleum in America, perhaps the world.”
The circle is complete. The United States pulls the starter cord on our military engine to take over Iraq and secure its oil supply to make sure we have enough gasoline for – our military.
The Oil Moment
The Bronze Age lasted 2,500 years; the Iron Age 1,100. As technology becomes more sophisticated one age is quickly overtaken by the next. What should we call the period dominated by petroleum products? “Age” seems too expansive a term for what will be an eyeblink of history; perhaps we should call it the “Oil Moment.”
The Oil Moment, future history books will record, lasted from about 1880, when the first commercial oil wells began hitting their stride, until 2040, when the last battles were fought for a diminishing supply.
The Oil Moment had four distinct phases, each of which lasted 40 years. The Early phase, 1880 to 1920, was marked by oil strikes throughout North America and rapid development of technologies to take advantage of petroleum products. The second, or Golden, phase – 1920 to 1960 – saw a global conversion to fossil fuels, primarily oil, global exploration for oil deposits, led by American oil companies, full exploitation of petroleum technologies, including “green revolution” petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers and the rise and global spread of plastics.
The third, or Turning Point, phase of the Oil Moment began in 1960 and saw the grim beginnings of decline. Around 1970, the United States reached the halfway point in oil production. That’s to say that 33 years ago, America had pumped and burned half the oil within its political boundaries. Three years later, the Arab Oil Embargo crippled the U.S. economy and made clear the extent to which industrialized countries were dependent on oil. At the time, the United States imported about one-third of the oil it consumed. By the time the Turning Point phase of the Oil Moment ended in 2000, the U.S. would be importing more than half its oil.
It was in the third phase of the Oil Moment that we began to discover the effects of petroleum combustion on our environment. From the flammable Cuyahoga River in Cleveland to the hottest years in the history of meteorology – 1998 still holds the record – we realized the unwanted products of Oil Moment will be with us long after we have wrung the last profit from its use.
The third phase witnessed the commencement of widespread oil violence. To be sure, oil manipulation had played a role in world politics in the 1940s, when the Allied nations courted the Arabian Saud family for control of its oil resource. Oil was the reason the United States installed Reza Pahlevi on Iran’s Peacock Throne in the 1950s. By 1975, Indonesia, with the blessing of President Gerald Ford, began a brutal occupation of East Timor, to control its offshore oil reserves. Since then, oil violence has raged in Nigeria, in Chechnya, in Colombia and Iraq. Oil plays a significant, although not absolute, role in the violence in Lebanon, Israel and Palestine.
Right now, world oil production equals a half-gallon per person per day. Americans, however, don’t use a half-gallon per person per day; we use two and a half gallons per person per day. For 290 million Americans to get two and a half gallons each, every day, then over one billion people – one out of six on Earth – get none. That’s why the oil wars are just beginning. That’s why the resentment of Americans and the terrorist attacks are just beginning.
We are now in the fourth and final phase of the Oil Moment, the Savage Decline. Our armed forces stand poised to launch a second oil war in Iraq. It costs American citizens $11,000 a second to maintain the American military. In the time it takes to read this commentary, our war machine will have spent about $2 million.
A report from the Department of Defense Science Board said, “The United States uses more petroleum than the next five largest consuming nations combined. Military consumption for aircraft, ships, ground vehicles and facilities make the Department of Defense the largest single consumer of petroleum in America, perhaps the world.”
The circle is complete. The United States pulls the starter cord on our military engine to take over Iraq and secure its oil supply to make sure we have enough gasoline for – our military.