Crude World
On the 150th anniversary of the discovery of petroleum in the US, "Crude World" prepares us for petroleum鈥檚 demise.
Look who just turned 150 鈥� without looking a day over 10,000!聽 August marked the anniversary of the discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania 鈥� or, at least, of our recognition of its usefulness. Journalist Peter Maass uses the occasion to throw a massive bucket of water on the flames of human exuberance for crude.
In Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil, Maass presents humanity with a snapshot of the implications of our oil addiction.
Examining oil collection and storage and transportation from locales in the furthest reaches of the globe, 鈥淐rude World鈥� is authentic, persuasive, and damning.
鈥淎cross the world,鈥� Maass writes, 鈥渙il is invoked as a machine of destiny. Oil will make you rich, oil will make you poor, oil will bring war, oil will deliver peace, oil will define our world as much as the glaciers did in the Ice Age.鈥� 鈥淐rude World鈥� depicts the inner workings of this petroleum machine to 鈥渞eveal an order in the world鈥檚 disorder.鈥� The power to create great opportunity is part of the myth of petroleum; Maass travels the globe in order to create lively vignettes of the opposite destiny.
鈥淥ne of the ironies of oil-rich countries is that most are not rich, that their oil brings trouble rather than prosperity,鈥� he writes.
In one of its greatest services, 鈥淐rude World鈥� brings the concept of peak oil back to the general discussion of crude. 鈥淛ust as the runner cannot increase her pace beyond a certain point, and must slow down after reaching top speed, so does the output of an oil field reach its peak and then decline.鈥� Using the work of oil-industry insider Matt Simmons to extend the research of petroleum geologist M. King Hubbert, Maass explains the concept of peak oil simply before dropping on readers the reality of the situation: 鈥淭he pinch of $147-a-barrel oil in 2008 was just a foretaste of what awaits us.鈥�
Crunch time, writes Maass, 鈥渂egins when producers are unable to increase their output.鈥� And this moment could arrive today or next year. 鈥淭he blow may come like a sledgehammer from the darkness. That鈥檚 why the debate over peak oil is not just about numbers. It is about the future.鈥� That鈥檚 his proverbial bucket of water: Just in time for its 150th anniversary, Maass sets out to prepare us for petroleum鈥檚 demise.
Admittedly, anniversaries can be silly affairs. In the case of Edwin Drake鈥檚 1859 discovery of the first commercial petroleum well in Pennsylvania, we note the start of many narratives: primarily, the realization that the oily oddity that seeped to Earth鈥檚 surface in a few locations might be gotten in enough supply that it could be put to work. From lubricant to illuminant and finally to fuel for combustion engines, the true revolution of petroleum is what humans did with it long after 1859. With this in mind, Maass鈥檚 dour 鈥淐rude World鈥� may be the proper, albeit immensely cynical, way to celebrate 150 years of oil.
Maass is the latest author to tap today鈥檚 insatiable appetite to learn more about petroleum. He follows 鈥� among others 鈥� Paul Roberts, Lisa Margonelli, and Antonia Juhasz. A writer for The New York Times and other newspapers, Maass鈥檚 chapters often resemble essays first created on assignment. However, Maass is careful to direct his vignettes toward a main point. In its nearly complete, awful bleakness, 鈥淐rude World鈥� clarifies that petroleum corrupts. It infects individuals 鈥� such as the character of Daniel Plainfield in the feature film 鈥淭here Will Be Blood鈥� 鈥� as well as entire nations.
In Maass鈥檚 account, each nation touched by oil 鈥� once considered a blessing 鈥� is fouled politically, environmentally, or economically by its experience with black goo. With titles such as 鈥淧lunder,鈥� 鈥淩ot,鈥� 鈥淐ontamination,鈥� and 鈥淎lienation,鈥� his chapters tell the all-too-common crude experiences of locales ranging from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia; from Ecuador to Odessa, Texas. Ultimately, Maass鈥檚 point moves to the global scale, by considering climatic implications of petroleum use that potentially could foul the future for all humans.
However bleak it might be for readers to confront, the narrative argument that brings these stories together is persuasive, intelligent, and passionate. Maass鈥檚 desire is not to offer solutions 鈥� arguing, primarily that 鈥渨e already possess most of the answers we need鈥� 鈥� but rather to broaden the case for why it is imperative that alternatives be found. There were times, over the course of our 150 years with petroleum, when this would have seemed blasphemous. It says a great deal that today Maass鈥檚 message is common knowledge.
Brian Black teaches history and environmental studies at Pennsylvania State University. He writes on energy history and is the author of 鈥淧etrolia.鈥�