Did “Big Oil” Sell Us on a Recycling Scam?
Our focus on recycling to save the planet may be missing the mark.
Brunei: A Tale of Soil and Oil
With an economy based almost exclusively on the oil industry, Brunei offers its citizens a high standard of living—but it comes with limitations.
Who Can Just Stop Oil?
Groups such as Just Stop Oil are calling for change, but their aims need to be considered with respect to more than a reductionist slogan.
Lyman Stewart: Fundamentalist and Oligarch
American oilman Lyman Stewart embodied the uniquely American paradoxes of what would become capitalist Christian fundamentalism and the prosperity gospel.
The Ecological Prescience of Dune
Frank Herbert’s novel isn't just about space messiahs, giant sandworms, and trippy space drugs. At its core, the sci-fi epic is about ecology.
Where Did the Oil from the Deepwater Horizon Spill Go?
The public's focus eventually turned away from the 2010 disaster. Scientists, however, are still learning the scale of the devastation.
The Mediums Who Helped Kick-Start the Oil Industry
Apparently some people communed with spirits to locate the first underground oil reserves.
What Comes After Oil Culture?
Almost everything about our culture today is built on oil. Can we imagine a world built on a different energy infrastructure?
The Jim Crow Roots of the U.S.-Saudi Arabia Relationship
Americans started pouring into Saudi Arabia in the 1940s to develop the oil fields. They brought their ideas about segregation with them.
Is the “Resource Curse” a Myth?
Countries like Liberia and Chad have a lot of oil, and yet little of their wealth has translated into public welfare. Some blame the "resource curse."