So apparently a large-ish contingent of American reactionaries don't think crude oil is a finite resource. They believe the Earth regenerates it at a faster pace than it can be drilled, and this isn't a niche conspiracy theory either. I mentioned it off-hand at work after seeing a random tweet about it, then like 5 of my coworkers all nodded and agreed. One even used the term "abiotic oil."

Is this just cope or what? One of my coworkers literally said, "Well oil is like water, it goes through a cycle and gets replenished." Something about how crude oil is actually made through some kind of geological process, rather than decomposed algae/animal matter from millions of years ago. I think maybe there's evidence of abiotic hydrocarbon gasses existing from various chemical reactions with minerals, but I believe there's never been a convincing source of abiotic petroleum that couldn't also be explained as biological in origin.

They don't actually believe this, do they? It's just a thin kind of security blanket so they don't have to consider the reality of what fossil fuels truly are?

  • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
    hexagon
    ·
    edit-2
    11 hours ago

    it's also that no one trusts one another unless they instantly vibe with whatever inner delusion unites them. Everyone's split into little islands of soothing fun little stories

    I mean I can sympathize with mistrust of institutions and expertise, but this is a level of skepticism beyond anything I've heard before. Like this baffles me more than flat earthers somehow. It's just naked cope is what it is.