This is page is archived. Please visit the CorpWatch Homepage for the latest information. Today, on the doorstep of the 21st century, civilization is more ensconced than ever in a hydrocarbon society. Countless products, from plastics, household detergents, tires, batteries and lubricants to industrial chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides, cosmetics and even surfboards, are derived from oil. Transportation and travel are based on it.
Governments rise and fall because of it.
As many analysts and historians have extensively documented, oil not only helped determine the outcomes of the First and Second World Wars, but revolutions, civil wars and global conflicts have also been fought and millions of lives lost over control of and access to oil. Entire cultures have been and continue to be transformed or destroyed by crude. The American Dream, aspired to by much of the world, is built on a lake of oil. In the age of globalization, oil remains the lifeblood of the world economy. Perhaps the most deleterious effect of the twentieth-century's fossil fuel revolution has been its environmental impact.