Petroleum Civilization: The Final Chapter (Confusing Life with Death)

"Oilandia: Capitol of Petroleum Civilization"

Some folks will say anything.

For example, a government website exclaims that: "Renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and water power play an important - and increasing - role in our nation's energy mix. The growth of clean and domestic renewable energy is an important part of addressing climate change and increasing our energy security" (Export Dot Gov).

At the same time, on another page, that government website exclaims that: "Oil is the lifeblood of America's economy.  Currently, it supplies more than 40% of our total

Bacteriophage T4: Oilandia's oilwell drilling rigs

energy demands and more than 99% of the fuel we use in our cars and trucks" (Export Dot Gov).

Another government site (DOE) used to proclaim the same thing (The Fleets & Terrorism Follow The Oil), but for some reason they took it down.

Anyway, the definition of the word "lifeblood" is: "the blood, considered as essential to maintain life" (Dictionary).

Using the word, as the .gov does, makes it sound like the U.S. economy, and hence the nation, is dead without oil.

Meanwhile, and to the contrary, other government and scientific reports indicate that if we keep using "the lifeblood" we will become dead (Are We Riding Out The Sixth Mass Extinction?, The Real Dangers With Microbes & Viruses, Civilization Is Now On Suicide Watch - 4).

So, is the notion "oil is lifeblood but using oil is destroying us" a conundrum, a predicament, a paradox, or all three?

Petroleum Civilization has to go, but the question we face is "will it take humanity out with it when it goes?"

History gives us one answer we obviously do not like:

"In other words, a society does not ever die 'from natural causes', but always dies from suicide or murder --- and nearly always from the former, as this chapter has shown." - A Study of History, by Arnold J. Toynbee

(The Deceit Business - 3). If this is not the answer we like, we will just have to live and die with it, because no one in power in Petroleum Civilization seems to want the human species to pass the test.