this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2024
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[–] Jolteon@lemmy.zip 29 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Imagine an alternate world where this was real. Where using too much solar power caused the earth to cool, and wind spills were a real issue that everybody feared, but oil was a truly renewable resource given to us by mother Earth herself.

People would tout the virtues of solar panels, saying that there's no evidence they actually make the Earth colder, secretly scheming for their free power. More and more wind turbines would be built, slowly reducing the winds of the Earth, except for periodic wind spills flattening Farmers Fields.

Hydroelectric dams would be built, but the level of the world's oceans would slowly drop, causing cities on the coast to no longer be on the coast after a couple centuries.

Honestly, I would absolutely read this story/watch this movie.

[–] JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Something similar actually happened with the crude oil industry.

Crude oil was discovered in 1859 and started being used in the form of kerosene for lamps. It put the whale oil industry out business. At the time it was considered this great new thing since whales were being hunted to near extinction and whale hunts were becoming increasingly expensive to do. Crude oil was that eras "environmentally friendly" alternative, though I dont think they thought about it that way. It was more convenience/availability than anything else.

Then crude oil became the environmental hazard with all the oil spills and many other problems it's causing/contributing to.

I guess my point is if you or anyone else wanted to write up your synopsis as a full story they could research how kerosene put the whale oil industry out of business, the marketing they used and the social/economic impacts it had at the time.

[–] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 3 months ago

Oil would be this amazing renewable resource. All we had to do was dump our waste in the mariana trench and within a few years, it would spring up everywhere as oil.