Societally, though, I think we're still doing better than monarchies and crusades. Even if the lows are pretty disgusting, there are a lot of folks spreading good information and care.

Now, if a bacteria that rendered crude oil unusable without releasing any CO2 in the process got loose, I would breathe a sigh of relief (and be eager to pay extra taxes to help folks with more rapid electrification).

[–] YetAnotherNerd@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13542400-slow-apocalypse ... A scientist has developed a cure for America’s addiction—a slow-acting virus that feeds on petroleum, turning it solid. But he didn’t consider that his contagion of an Iraqi oil field would spread to infect the fuel supply of the entire world…

[–] pageflight@piefed.social 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Interesting! Reviews don't seem too positive though.

[–] YetAnotherNerd@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 week ago

It’s a decent book. 3.5 for Goodreads is actually pretty respectable.

The problem is that it’s a decent book from Varley, the guy who wrote Titan/Wizard/Demon and Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. Hell, he wrote the whole of the Eight World “series”. He’s won the Hugo 3 times. Average is a disappointment.

[–] brendansimms@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

pretty sure there are oil cleaning microbes used for spills that you can buy by the bucket through like...boating related vendors

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Oil has lots more to do with everything else, besides power.

Virtually every plastic.

Copper manufacturing.

Lubricants.

Solar panels.

Windmills.

Etc.

You're wanting to push everyone back to the stone age.

[–] RiderExMachina@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

Plastic alternatives are in development and in various stages of manufacture. That’s a solved problem.

The other oil could/should be recyclable, which is a lot better than burning it, never to be used again like in an engine.