The nineteenth century was the century of coal and the twentieth century
has been one of oil. Conflict between the major powers has centered around
the oil resources and resulted in two superpowers, which happen to be the
two largest oil producing and consuming nation states. It has been a truism
throughout this century that those who are mighty control oil. According
to 1995 statistics, the United States consumed 20.115 billion tons of oil,
25.8% of the world's production, followed by China, Russia, Japan and
Germany, who altogether consumed 53.7%.
Kenneth Balding wrote that the total amount of energy consumed by the
human race since the discovery of fire until 1960 was equal to the amount
consumed in the following ten years. If this holds true, it is almost
certain that in the following thirty years, we consumed an amount equal to
that consumed from the beginning of history to the end of the 1960s. This
rampant consumption of energy by man is contrary to nature, excessive and
even, arrogant.
The twentieth century has also been the century of chemicals. The chemical
industry, based on coal resources, was born in Germany at the beginning of
this century and it enabled the Nazis to develop poison gas as well as other
deadly weapons. The Nazis were defeated but the chemical industry continued
to grow throughout the century and paved the way for the petrochemical
industry in the United States. Tens of millions of chemical products have
since been produced, many of which have made life more convenient. But the
uncertainties and unknowns involved in these products are numerous and their
negative and destructive aspects are still not calculable even as production
continues and increases.
The twentieth century has been an environmentally precarious century, which
to a certain extent has been caused by oil and petrochemical products. As
noted above, the majority of oil and oil products are consumed by five
nations, and the rest of the world is not really a beneficiary of this
massive consumption. Yet, the destructive results of the activities of these
five fall evenly on all peoples. This is the factor that aggravates another
unique issue of the twentieth century, the North-South problem. |
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