From Pennsylvania to the Persian Gulf: The Epic History of Oil

Transitioning the global economy away from oil is a heroic task. Oil is embedded in the way nearly every major industry functions, for better and for worse. Although the science is all but unanimous in the finding that transitioning away from oil and toward emissions-free alternatives is critically important to planetary health and the quality of life for future generations, “we haven’t found a good substitute for oil, in terms of its availability and fitness for purpose,” in the words of the Brookings Institute. How did oil,…