By Tony Hagen • editor@newjersey.sierraclub.org
Oil Creek, Pa., is a pretty interesting place. It’s now a park, thank goodness, but it was the birthplace of the American oil industry.
It all happened somewhere near the close of the Civil War. The whaling industry couldn’t keep up with the demand for oil and, as people became aware of the vast utility of crude oil, fortune seekers crowded in from all directions to cash in on “black gold.”
Lush forests were transformed virtually overnight into oil-slicked mud-scapes and unruly boomtowns. Horses were routinely lashed to death hauling wooden barrels of oil across land to rail and water depots.
The Allegheny River became choked with oil pollution and sometimes caught fire. Amid all this detritus of greed and desperation, one man rose above all others: John Rockefeller, co-founder of Standard Oil and destined to become the world’s richest person.
Rockefeller possessed a unique ability to organize, raise money, and manipulate vast economic engines to transform the rough and tumble oil business into what has become a sky-darkening, global menace today, a century and a half later.
Men still scramble to cash in on this easy money. Oil companies remain some of the highest dividend-paying stocks on Wall Street. Lots of “widows and orphans” and plenty of others depend on these profits for their livelihoods. For many, that makes it hard to let go.
I clearly remember a friend recounting the words of his father: “Son, oil stocks have been very, very good to us.”
Today, the oil business has the afterglow of a Russian missile attack. Its minions are like Sauron’s Orks moving against the peace-loving, civilized world. Hopefully, soon, someone will throw this “ring” of delusion into the fires of Mount Doom.
As extreme weather events flicker like engulfing flames all over the planet, at the Sierra Club we work patiently and confidently on course corrections that will one day bring us out of this peril.
The Lower Passaic River, a toxic mess, is now getting the cleanup attention it deserves. Across the state, the foundations of an electric vehicle fleet and building electrification are taking shape. Wind turbines have been stymied by economic conditions and opposition groups, but our Chapter stands united in support for responsibly developed offshore wind to help New Jersey achieve 100% clean energy.
Read about these developments and more in this issue of The Jersey Sierran and get involved. An appropriate response to the toxicity of the Oil Age starts with awareness and continues with action.