The material cause is oil. “Oil” is defined as “a viscous liquid derived from petroleum, especially for use as a fuel or lubricant” (Webster's Third International Dictionary, 1966, p. 1568). The genus of oil is petroleum and “an oily flammable liquid that in the crude state often has a very disagreeable odor” (Webster's Third International Dictionary, 1691).
The formal cause of oil is abundance. “Abundance” is defined as “a great quantity or amount; plentiful supply” (Webster's Third International Dictionary, 1966, p. 8). Corsi writes, “We have plenty, maybe even an inexhaustible amount available deep within the earth” (13). It is silly to conclude that oil is scarce, since “we have plenty” (13). Further, Corsi writes, “Could it be that oil is abundant, nearly an inexhaustible resource, if only we drill deep enough?” (27). Thus, because oil has a “plentiful supply” (1968, p. 8) and is “inexhaustible” (27), oil is abundant.
Principal agent of oil is the earth. “Oil is in constant production by the earth” (17). Further, Corsi writes, “The earth generates oil on a constant basis” (78). Oil is “a viscous liquid” (1568) that is generated by the earth “on a constant basis” (78). Further, Vladimir Porfiryev wrote in 1956, “The overwhelming preponderance of geological evidence compels the conclusion that crude oil and natural petroleum have no intrinsic connection with biological matter originating near the surface of the earth. They are primordial materials which have been erupted from great depths” (17). Oil is not caused by “biological matter… near the surface of the earth” (17). On the contrary, oil is caused by “primordial” and basic materials in the depths of the earth. Further, Corsi writes, “Oil lies at a depth of about 3 miles deep” (64). Thus, because oil is “in constant production” (17) and “primordial” (17), oil is abundant.
The preparing agent of oil is world markets. Corsi writes, “Gains in the oil market… depends on the daily activity of the international oil marketplace, not on central-planning government bureaucracies” (173). The freedom of the world markets of oil bring about “gains” in both the United States and world markets. Corsi writes, “Gains in the U.S. marketplace are not losses experienced in other nations” (173). A growing market in the U.S. leads to growing markets globally. Corsi writes, “Markets rule, not oil companies or governments” (203).
The tool of oil is a refinery. A “refinery” is defined as “a building and equipment for refining or purifying metals, oil, or sugar” (Webster's Third International Dictionary, 1966, p. 1908). Corsi writes, “The last new refinery in America was constructed in 1976. Without more refineries, we are stuck right where we are, regardless how much rude oil is available to refine” (168). While “we have plenty” (13) of oil, we need refineries to purify the oil and convert the oil into gas. Further, Corsi writes, “Without additional refinery capacity, more demand for gasoline inevitable y means higher prices” (169). The increase in the number of refineries in the United States leads to a decrease in gas prices. Presently there are one hundred and thirty refineries in the United States and we need more.
A counseling agent about oil is Dr. Thomas Gold who taught physics at Cornell University in New York. He concluded that “the theory of fossil fuel was a myth” (38), because “hydrogen is a fundamental element readily available in the universe, one that combine with carbon to form hydro-carbons whether life is present or not” (39). Hydrocarbons, such as “crude oil and methane gas” (41), exists independently from plants and animals. Further, a second counseling agent about oil is Daniel Yergin who is a “industry consultant” and historian (41). Yergin writes, “Oil and renewable resource are not words that often appear in the same sentence” (69). Oil is abundant and “renewable” (69). In other words, the quantity of oil is not depleted by use. Further, a third counseling agent about oil is Jerome Corsi who is an author who completed graduate work at Harvard. Corsi writes, “Reducing U.S. oil dependence on foreign oil imports will reduce the extent to which our dollars end up funding terrorists who in turn intend to attack us” (243). The Unites States has about eighty four billion barrels of oil in reserves and uses about seven billion barrels a year. Hence, citizens in the United States need more oil refineries at home and less oil from other countries.
Induction shows that oil is abundant. Corsi writes, “We are now sitting on more proven petroleum reserves than ever before” (63). Further, Corsi writes, “Moreover, new and gigantic oil fields are being discovered at an increasing rate” (63). In 2000 an oil field with “thirty-eight billion barrels” was discovered in Kazakhstan (64). Further, in 2003 Iran had “90 billion barrels” (65) of oil in its reserves. Today Iran has 208 billion barrels of oil in its reserves. Hence, Corsi writes, “The world oil market is larger, more robust, and more dynamic than ever” (200).
History shows that an abundance of oil wins wars. Corsi writes, “Without oil, the wehrmacht could not make war” (22). The “wehrmacht” is defined “the armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1948” (Webster's Third International Dictionary, 1966, p. 1908). The armed forces of the Nazi’s in Germany depended on oil. Corsi writes, “We brought Germany to her knees by depriving the Nazis of oil, not by bombing its cities” (23). Further, Corsi writes, “We forgot important lessons about conventional bombing that could have saved us from the type of wasteful bombing in Vietnam that helped our enemies turn the tide of American public opinion against the war” (23). American generals were “wasteful” during the Vietnam war, because they did not focus on bombing the “oil industry” (22) alone in Vietnam which made the war lengthy and unpopular.
The analogy of oil states that oil is similar to seaweed. Seaweed contains sand just as oil contains biological materials, such as “ancient plants and dinosaurs” (17). Seaweed has sand in it, because it grows from the seabed. Similarly, oil has biological materials in it, since it floats to the surface of the earth from the depth of the earth and floats through the shallow layers of the earth that has “ancient plants and dinosaurs” materials. However, it is silly to conclude that “ancient plants and dinosaurs” make oil just it is to conclude that sand makes seaweed. Corsi writes, “Dmitry Mendeleyev (1834-1907) was one of the first chemists to suggest that oil is primordial material that arises from the great depths from within the earth” (32).
The motive for some physicists is reasonable, since oil is a natural, abundant and renewable source of energy. Corsi writes, “In other words, go deep enough into the mantle of the earth and you will find abundant oil everywhere” (41). Sadly, the motive for some environmentalists is not reasonable, because the motive is greed. Corsi writes, “A primary reason the radical environmentalists care about global warming is because they have an underlying economic and political agenda” (82). Some environmentalists reject physics, because they are greedy and wish to make a profit from the ignorance of others. Corsi writes, “Limiting the number of refineries is seen as a way for large oil companies to keep gasoline prices high” (170). Greed motivates some environmentalists to decrease the number of refineries, to increase the price of gasoline and to prevent citizens from learning the truth. In other words, some environmentalists with greed place a ‘black gold stranglehold’ that decreases the number of citizens in the middle class. Further, Corsi writes, “Greed fueled by money under the table cannot be the basis upon which a new world order of universal freedom and human justice will result” (184). Greed is not a reasonable motive and not a good “basis” (184) for “freedom and human justice” (184).
Oil triggers that passion of joy, hope, fear and courage. The physics student feels joy when learning that oil is abundant and renewables. Corsi writes, “The earth may continue to manufacture oil and natural gas on a never-ending basis, such that the oil flowing to the surface never stops” (73). Further, the physics student feels hope when he learns that we will have an abundance of oil globally. Corsi writes, “We have never had oil and natural gas reserves so huge… We may end up with a worldwide glut of oil” (76). Further, a person who does not study physics might believe greedy environmentalists who spread fear by claiming, “Oil exploration will destroy the environment” (127). Further, a physics student will feel courage when he learns that “the world oil market has grown dramatically over the last thirty-five years” (188). Further, a physics student will feel joy when he learns that some environmentalist are motivated by greed and support the decrease in the number of refineries in the United States. Consequently, some greedy environmentalists have encouraged reasonable people study nuclear power. Corsi writes, “Environmentalists may regret that they pushed global warming so hard, especially if the result is that they public returns to favoring the construction of more nuclear power plants” (139). Contemporary nuclear power uses “integral fast reactors” which are smooth and safe. Thus, because a physics student is convinced that oil is renewable, that oil is abundant, that greedy environmentalists spread fear, and that the oil market grows every year, and that nuclear power is a reasonable option, oil triggers joy, hope, fear, and courage. Dr. Corsi writes, Oil is “a natural product of the earth” and “oil and natural gas are readily available” (254).
The above investigation allows me to deliberate and then make the following command. Oil is abundant, because oil is “inexhaustible” (27) and limitless, and because oil is “renewable” (69) and replenishes yearly.
There are eight objections to the thesis that oil is abundant.
First, it seems that oil is scarce, because oil is a fossil fuels and fossils are limited. According to Mikhail Lomonosov (1711-1765), “Oil is a fossil fuel,” because “rock oil originates as tiny bodies of animals buried in the sediments” (32). The response to the first objection is to assert that no physicist “has produced oil from decayed biological material” (33). Further, tar pits existed before ancient animals. Corsi writes, “We should ask where the tar pits came from in the first place that trapped the ancient animals” (35).
Second, it seems that oil is scarce, since oil is “a hydrocarbon chemical” (46) caused by “ancient plants and dinosaurs” (47). The response to the second objection is to claim that some hydrocarbons are not caused by plants and dinosaurs, such as pegmatites, carbonatites, coal and soot. Further, according to Fred Hoyle (1915-2001), “The suggestion that petroleum might have arisen from some transformation of squashed fish or biological detritus is surely the silliest notion to have been entertained by substantial numbers of persons over an extended period of time” (31).
Third, it seems that oil is scarce, because “sooner or later we will find it all and use it all and have nothing left” (66). The response to this objection full of despair is to posit that “many new oil and natural gas fields are found” every year (66).
Fourth, it seems that oil is scarce, because “giant oil fields… do deplete” (77). The response to the fourth objection is to argue that individual oil wells may become empty while large oil fields are expanding. Corsi writes, “The mistake is made when we reason fallaciously from the properties of the parts to the property of the whole itself” (78). For example, it is deceptive to say that because the oil filter on a car is not heavy, the car is not heavy. Similarly, it is deceptive to assert that because one oil well can get depleted, all oil fields will get depleted.
Fifth, it seems that oil should be scarce, because the effects of oil bring about global warming. Corsi writes, some “environmentalists argue that we burn gasoline in our cars and, as a result, we increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the air which absorbs sunlight and emits heat” (84). The response is to assert that carbon dioxide is not strong enough to cause global warming. Corsi writes, “Carbon dioxide itself only constitutes one percent of the atmosphere” (85) An abundance of oil will not alter the weather. Further, Corsi writes, “Why not just plant more trees?” (85). After all, plants need carbon dioxide for the process of photosynthesis.
Sixth, it seems that oil should be scarce, since “at current rates of burning petroleum products, we can expect a warming of the earth as much as ten degrees over the next one hundred years” (94). The response to the sixth objection is to claim that “the earth is not a controlled laboratory setting” (94). The atmosphere is not like a box found in a lab.
Seventh, it seems that oil should be scarce, because “we must use less oil” (130). The response to the seventh objection is to posit that “we must find more oil” (130). Further, Corsi writes, “Oil is truly an abiotic product” and “we might find extensive oil still available to us yet on the continental United States” (130). Rather than using less oil, we need to be building more refineries.
Eighth, it seems that oil should be scarce, since the United States consumes too much oil and leaves the rest of the world with less oil. Corsi writes, “Environmentalists regularly blame the United States for consuming too large a proportion of the world’s natural resources in relation to the size of our population” (172). The response to the eight objection full of despair is to argue that gains in the oil market in the United States leads to gains on the global oil market and then gains in the oil markets of other countries. Corsi writes, “Our increasing imports drive profits in other nations, stimulating international capital structures to emerge more strongly outside the United States” (173).
Final remarks. The strong conclusion that oil is abundant encourages growth in the oil markets in the both the United States and the world.
© By Theodore Faulders, December 17, 2012.