“Old King Petrol had been a merry old soul, and a merry old soul he’d been. He’d called for his pipe(line) and he’d called for his tank(ers) when he’d called the shots way back when.”
Dateline: March 11, 2026 – King Petrol sat glued to his TV screen delighted with this stroke of good fortune. The Strait of Hormuz had been shut down. Petrol’s thoughts drifted back to that glorious time in October 1973 when OPEC declared an oil embargo. The whole world was thrown into chaos and clamored for more of HIM. King Petrol had made the great world powers dance to his tune.
Now, he could almost taste that power coming his way once again. Analysts predicted the price of oil would spiral out of control. Guesstimates ranged from $150 to as high as $250 / barrel! A global food crisis was threatening. “Oh boy!” King Petrol gloated. “Soon I’ll once again be the puppet master controlling the strings of power.
But by mid-July it became clear that a repeat of the ’73 embargo was not to be. Aside from a price spike for a couple months, the cost of oil this July runs just a bit higher than it did the day the strait was first closed in early March. “What’s happening to my empire?” the king sobbed as he summoned his top consultants.
“Sorry Boss,” Ed Visor ventured, “but you’re not such a big shot any more. Renewables are eating you for lunch. Take electrical generation for example; 47% in the EU and 26% in the US comes from renewables. Solar has already overtaken coal generation in the US. And frankly, folks are getting fed up with the damaging effects of your greenhouse gas emissions. Extreme heat, severe weather events and worsening air quality aren’t winning you any fans.”
That evening King Petrol admitted to himself that it was time to retire. “My glory days are over. I’d like folks to remember me for helping grow prosperity, not as a polluting climate-change driver. Every American can help speed my retirement by reducing their use of fossil fuels, expanding home and business solar generation, and by adding insulation to conserve energy. And the sooner the better because this is the only home we’ll ever know. It’s where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”
(Data courtesy of Matthew Lynn – Washington Post)
Dateline: March 11, 2026 – King Petrol sat glued to his TV screen delighted with this stroke of good fortune. The Strait of Hormuz had been shut down. Petrol’s thoughts drifted back to that glorious time in October 1973 when OPEC declared an oil embargo. The whole world was thrown into chaos and clamored for more of HIM. King Petrol had made the great world powers dance to his tune.
Now, he could almost taste that power coming his way once again. Analysts predicted the price of oil would spiral out of control. Guesstimates ranged from $150 to as high as $250 / barrel! A global food crisis was threatening. “Oh boy!” King Petrol gloated. “Soon I’ll once again be the puppet master controlling the strings of power.
But by mid-July it became clear that a repeat of the ’73 embargo was not to be. Aside from a price spike for a couple months, the cost of oil this July runs just a bit higher than it did the day the strait was first closed in early March. “What’s happening to my empire?” the king sobbed as he summoned his top consultants.
“Sorry Boss,” Ed Visor ventured, “but you’re not such a big shot any more. Renewables are eating you for lunch. Take electrical generation for example; 47% in the EU and 26% in the US comes from renewables. Solar has already overtaken coal generation in the US. And frankly, folks are getting fed up with the damaging effects of your greenhouse gas emissions. Extreme heat, severe weather events and worsening air quality aren’t winning you any fans.”
That evening King Petrol admitted to himself that it was time to retire. “My glory days are over. I’d like folks to remember me for helping grow prosperity, not as a polluting climate-change driver. Every American can help speed my retirement by reducing their use of fossil fuels, expanding home and business solar generation, and by adding insulation to conserve energy. And the sooner the better because this is the only home we’ll ever know. It’s where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”
(Data courtesy of Matthew Lynn – Washington Post)
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