An oil executive once observed that burning oil for energy is
like burning Picassos for heat. Oil is extraordinarily valuable
as the basis for so many products we use every day that the
thought of simply burning it ought to be unthinkable. So
versatile are oil molecules that they can be transformed into
substances that serve as clothing, medicines, building
materials, carpet, skin care products, sporting goods,
agricultural chemicals, perfumes, and myriad other products.
Increasingly, when we make oil-based products for homes and
businesses, we are finding ways to reuse those products or
recycle the materials they are made from (think: recyclable
plastics). But, burning oil is always a one-time, irreversible
act that leaves nothing of value behind and produces greenhouse
gases and pollutants that harm us. And yet, because oil remains
the most cost-effective and widely available source of liquid
fuels, we are hooked on it for transportation with little
prospect of substitutes on the scale we would require--unl