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Petroleum age is just beginning
Washington Times ^ | 8/15/03 | David Deming

Posted on 08/15/2003 9:37:43 AM PDT by DoctorMichael

Edited on 07/12/2004 3:40:35 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

It is hard to imagine how our grandparents and great-grandparents lived at the end of the 19th century. The United States was still largely a rural society, and the amenities we take for granted today were unknown then.

Most people lived on farms. Few Americans had running water, bathtubs, hot water, or flush toilets. Central heating, electricity and telephones were rare. There were no antibiotics. Infant mortality was high, and life expectancy was 30 years lower than it is today. For most people, educational opportunities were very limited. In 1890, only 5 percent of the eligible population attended high school.


(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; Extended News; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: abiogenic; blackout; discovery; energy; energylist; oil; seminalevent; thomasgold
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To: tpaine
Methane is a common substance in our solar system, just as it is a common non biological substance on earth.

So what? You have a gift for the irrelevant and the non-sequitur.

21 posted on 08/15/2003 10:53:25 AM PDT by Cincinatus (Omnia relinquit servare Republicam)
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To: Agnes Heep
"...... neither more nor less environmentally aware than any other group of humans........."

Correct!

Thats why I want to wretch when either some self-important Indian 'spokesman/woman' or environmentral wacko uses/attaches the term "American Indian" synonymously with "higher environmental conciousness" implying that the 'noble savage' was somehow better.

22 posted on 08/15/2003 10:54:09 AM PDT by DoctorMichael (TAG! You're it!)
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To: Cincinatus
or, they are not all fossil fuels, some being assembled from the dissolved carbondioxide welling up from lower layers.
23 posted on 08/15/2003 11:01:45 AM PDT by Geritol
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To: Cincinatus
Whata clown. We are discussing the possible origins of petroleum, right?


Methane is a common non biological substance on earth, correct?

Thus, methane, in a deep hot area of our earth, could be converted to petroleum. -- Try to say it isn't possible.

And, -- try to tell us that the logic of the point is irrelevent.

24 posted on 08/15/2003 11:04:26 AM PDT by tpaine ( I'm trying to be Mr Nice Guy, but politics keep getting in me way. ArnieRino for Governator!)
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To: Geritol
It's very difficult to synthesize all of the complex organic molecules that make up petroleum from simple CO2. If you're right, then Mars should have massive petroleum deposits in its crust. Maybe Exxon can sponsor the next Mars mission!
25 posted on 08/15/2003 11:05:19 AM PDT by Cincinatus (Omnia relinquit servare Republicam)
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To: DoctorMichael
Good article. Thanks for posting.
26 posted on 08/15/2003 11:06:09 AM PDT by Prodigal Son
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To: DoctorMichael
Does this mean I don't have to trade my SUV for a hybrid?
27 posted on 08/15/2003 11:12:12 AM PDT by wayoverontheright
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To: tpaine
We are discussing the possible origins of petroleum, right?

I am. You're blithering about methane.

Methane is a common non biological substance on earth, correct?

I guess that depends on what you mean by "common." In the atmosphere, it's about 1.5 parts per million by weight. In the crust, it's much less than that. Is that "common"?

Thus, methane, in a deep hot area of our earth, could be converted to petroleum.

What's "deep"? Typically, volatile compounds decrease in abundance as you go deeper into the Earth. Gold's "core methane" (i.e., methane percolating up from the Earth's core) is simply his postulate -- it's never been observed or even proven to be feasible. He's also quite vague on the organic synthesis that transforms this putative methane into more complex organic moelcules. Maybe you could enlighten us on all that.

Try to say it isn't possible.

I said it was a crank idea. By that, I mean that we have abundant empirical and theoretical evidence that this is not the way petroleum is made. I'll leave decisions on the impossibility of natural phenomena to others. If you choose to believe in it, be my guest. Lots of people believe the most incredible things.

28 posted on 08/15/2003 11:17:57 AM PDT by Cincinatus (Omnia relinquit servare Republicam)
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To: Cincinatus
Mars should have massive petroleum deposits in its crust.

What are we waiting for? Halliburton should be on their way now. Oh, wait, the lightweight fractions would be gone, we aren't talking light, sweet crude. Probably just bitumen. Well, we can blacktop the road to Cydonia, anyway.

29 posted on 08/15/2003 11:20:52 AM PDT by RightWhale (Repeal the Law of the Excluded Middle)
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To: DoctorMichael
Thats why I want to wretch when either some self-important Indian 'spokesman/woman' or environmentral wacko uses/attaches the term "American Indian" synonymously with "higher environmental conciousness" implying that the 'noble savage' was somehow better.

Not that the Indians didn't have their good points, but they were most definitely not the "noble savages" the PC crowd and the Indian activists make them out to be. For my part, I'm fed up with that type, just as I'm fed up with gay activism!

30 posted on 08/15/2003 11:32:36 AM PDT by Agnes Heep
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To: DoctorMichael; AAABEST; Ace2U; Alamo-Girl; Alas; amom; AndreaZingg; Anonymous2; ApesForEvolution; ..
Rights, farms, environment ping.

Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.

31 posted on 08/15/2003 11:33:27 AM PDT by farmfriend ( Isaiah 55:10,11)
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To: farmfriend
BTTT!!!!!!
32 posted on 08/15/2003 11:36:41 AM PDT by E.G.C.
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To: Cincinatus
We are discussing the possible origins of petroleum, right?

I am. You're blithering about methane.

Not at all, your blithering that I'm "blithering", a dumb ass way of avoiding my question.

Methane is a common non biological substance on earth, correct?

I guess that depends on what you mean by "common." In the atmosphere, it's about 1.5 parts per million by weight. In the crust, it's much less than that. Is that "common"?

Beats me. Gold says it is common. Refute his published facts.

Thus, methane, in a deep hot area of our earth, could be converted to petroleum.

What's "deep"? Typically, volatile compounds decrease in abundance as you go deeper into the Earth. Gold's "core methane" (i.e., methane percolating up from the Earth's core) is simply his postulate -- it's never been observed or even proven to be feasible. He's also quite vague on the organic synthesis that transforms this putative methane into more complex organic moelcules. Maybe you could enlighten us on all that.

Gold has a published theory, - a "postulate". -- You can't even figure out "whats deep". You're a joke.

Try to say it isn't possible.

I said it was a crank idea. By that, I mean that we have abundant empirical and theoretical evidence that this is not the way petroleum is made.

Gold differs, -- with an interesting theory that many have accepted, and are using to drill deep, putting their money on the line.
Why call him a 'crank'? What's your 'bone of contention'?

I'll leave decisions on the impossibility of natural phenomena to others. If you choose to believe in it, be my guest. Lots of people believe the most incredible things.

As do you, as your posts here at FR evidence.

33 posted on 08/15/2003 11:40:58 AM PDT by tpaine ( I'm trying to be Mr Nice Guy, but politics keep getting in me way. ArnieRino for Governator!)
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To: Cincinatus; Galatians513
How does a 'fossil fuel' end up 30,000 feet underground?

There is increasing evidence that the planet manufactures petroleum on a continuous basis. Apparently, bacteria combine it out of residual methane deep in the Earth's mantle. Dry holes in granite in Sweden have ended up producing light crude.

34 posted on 08/15/2003 11:49:33 AM PDT by Carry_Okie (The environment is too complex and too important to be managed by politics.)
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To: tpaine
Beats me.

You finally inadvertantly stumble onto a truth. Congratulations!

35 posted on 08/15/2003 11:51:10 AM PDT by Cincinatus (Omnia relinquit servare Republicam)
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To: Cincinatus
Congrats yourself.. Nice game of dodge-em you play.

To bad it makes you look foolish.
36 posted on 08/15/2003 11:53:58 AM PDT by tpaine ( I'm trying to be Mr Nice Guy, but politics keep getting in me way. ArnieRino for Governator!)
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To: Agnes Heep
We ALL want to romanticize about things. I just try NOT to let my imagination over-ride my rational side.

....... Not that the Indians didn't have their good points ........

I will freely admit that I would love to have been one of the mountain men like Jim Bridger in the 1820-50's (even before the first settlers started migrating out there). There IS something alluring about America during that time period for me.

;-)

37 posted on 08/15/2003 12:01:41 PM PDT by DoctorMichael (TAG! You're it!)
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To: Galatians513
How does a 'fossil fuel' end up 30,000 feet underground?

A.) It evolved
B.) It sunk
C.) God put it there
D.) Nobody really knows the answer.

38 posted on 08/15/2003 12:02:53 PM PDT by slimer
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To: DoctorMichael
It is hard to imagine how our grandparents and great-grandparents lived at the end of the 19th century. The United States was still largely a rural society, and the amenities we take for granted today were unknown then.

Most people lived on farms. Few Americans had running water, bathtubs, hot water, or flush toilets. Central heating, electricity and telephones were rare. There were no antibiotics. Infant mortality was high, and life expectancy was 30 years lower than it is today. For most people, educational opportunities were very limited. In 1890, only 5 percent of the eligible population attended high school.

Hell, some of my great-granparents, lived in a cave in Sperlinga, Sicily. That's right, I can prove I'm descended from cavemen, nothing to do with the theory of evolution one way or the other.

A caveman is a man who lives in a cave, nothing more nothing less. No stuff and nonsense about being sub-human or less evolved. Just poverty. But they came to America.

39 posted on 08/15/2003 12:03:22 PM PDT by Salman (Mickey Akbar)
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To: DoctorMichael
Yes, and it cuts me right down to the quick when the PC types insinuate that I'm anti-Indian. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I just like to call a spade a spade.

40 posted on 08/15/2003 12:13:21 PM PDT by Agnes Heep
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