The lessons of oil history
In today’s Wall Street Journal, I have an op-ed piece entitled “Obama Follows Nixon on Oil Spill.” It explains how Richard Nixon’s anti-oil, anti-development response to the Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 helped bring about an energy crisis–and how President Obama’s policies are ominously similar. Read it here.
In general, I have found that studying the history of oil is essential for understanding the present world. For example:
- How did so much of the world’s oil end up in the hands of dictators even though it was discovered by citizens of free countries?
- How is the history of oil connected to the history of terrorism?
- What policies led to the greatest amount of production and innovation, and what caused the least?
I cover these and many more questions in my course “The Triumph and Tragedy of the Oil Industry.” Listen to it online or download in MP3 here.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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