Exxon Valdez

By the late 20th Century, the Western notions of modernity and “Progress” had long been bolstered by revolutionary methods for producing energy. In the 19th Century, coal-fired power plants sparked the burgeoning Industrial Revolution sweeping across Europe, North America, and eventually the rest of the world. In the 20th Century, petroleum products ushered in a whole new era of transportation, plastic products, and infrastructure that made life more leisurely and manageable. 

In many ways, fossil fuels, coupled with the greatest advances in science and innovation, were the lifeblood of The Story Of Progress. They vastly accelerated humanity’s trajectory upward. No more horse-drawn carriages. No more candle-lit houses at night. No more hand-washing dirty clothes. 

For those in the early-to-mid 20th Century, these fossil fuels must have appeared as a gift from God. Just below our feet was a seemingly endless supply of cheap, efficient energy that could power our whole lives and economies. 

In 1989, that rosy outlook changed forever. 

Right around midnight on a cold March morning in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck a reef. Over the next several days, the ship spewed over 10 million gallons of crude oil into the pristine marine waters, devastating salmon, herrings, seals, seabirds, and the local economies they fueled. Thick black tar was everywhere, impossible to scrub off, suffocating everything in its path. Even the chemicals meant to help clean the spill turned out to be incredibly toxic not only for local marine life, but the human crews brought in to clean up the mess. It was hell on Earth.

The nation and much of the world stood mouths agape at the destruction: dead birds, otters, and crabs drowned in oil; countless miles of beaches and ocean turned black. Perhaps never before had fossil fuels’ destructive power been so obvious, so visceral, so devastating.

In the years to come, it became increasingly evident that this black tar not only devastated life when it spilled accidentally, but was irrevocably altering the Earth’s climate in a manner that gravely endangered all of humanity even when it was used as intended.

The very lifeblood of The Story of Progress was now both intellectually understood and viscerally experienced as literal poison to life on Earth. The resources that perhaps once appeared as a gift from God had transformed into the harbinger of our doom.