Word: oiled
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Only a decade ago, the debate over global warming dealt mainly with whether it was a real problem or a Chicken Little scare story. In theory it made sense: we are burning more and more coal and oil; coal and oil generate carbon dioxide gas; carbon dioxide traps the sun's heat like the glass of a greenhouse. In theory, therefore, the earth's temperature should be on the rise--with potentially disastrous consequences that could include inundated coastlines, drastically altered weather, severe disturbances to agriculture, and tropical diseases' pushing into new territory. But the effect was still too small...
Things are a lot tougher for the U.S. Thanks largely to the current economic boom, America's emissions have been growing while Europe's have declined. The only way to reverse that trend is to slash oil and coal use by upgrading the efficiency of cars, factories and power plants. But such conversions could be extremely expensive and would throw thousands of energy workers out of their jobs...
...Clinton's plan calls for the U.S. government to invest in such technologies as solar cells to drive the cost of production down, and to offer tax breaks to companies that do the same. But such measures would have to get past a hostile Congress. Americans proved during the oil-price shocks of the 1970s that they can get interested in energy efficiency when prices shoot up; if anything can curb greenhouse-gas emissions, it is the free market. Unfortunately, the price of oil in constant dollars is close to what it was in the car-happy 1950s, and prices...
...second fantasy, Where the Sea Used to Be, sketches a young man, a rough-and-tumble oil geologist and aviator, who is obsessed with oil--not the money it can bring but the ancient, hidden stuff itself. He can sometimes see, almost clearly, the shape and shadows of a deep-buried oil deposit that once was an inland sea. He meets a beautiful young woman, takes her, literally, in his airplane while scouting for oil, and sorrows that he doesn't have the knack of falling in love with her. The journey of the tale is his effort to teach...
...OIL THREAT With King Fahd of Saudi Arabia laid low by a stroke, day-to-day policy decisions of the world's biggest oil producer are being made by Crown Prince Abdullah--the first future King of Saudi Arabia in recent times who doesn't speak English. "He's more of a nationalist and is seeking better relations with Iran," notes Zonis. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia are trying to figure out how to increase oil revenues. Experts believe they might strike a deal: Iran would cease all terrorist activity in Saudi Arabia; in exchange, the Saudis would work...