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It seems that everyone is mounting a battle against the oil companies in an all out effort to shut them down.  I for one don’t think that we need to shut down oil companies but rather focus on how the oil companies can help move us into the future just as they did One Hundred Forty One years ago.

Shell, Exxon/Mobile, Chevron/Texaco, BP/Arco, Conoco/Phillips, and Standard Oil are all investing millions of dollars in clean energy research.  Why would they do this?  Because they too realize that the future depends on alternative energy for transportation and electricity.

Oil Companies and “Wild Cats” as they were known in the early days have done a lot towards the promotion of prosperity to the citizens of the U.S.  It was the early and cheap abundance of oil that spurred on the industrial age and was responsible for the development of nearly everything we use in today’s daily life.

That said, I do believe that we have “put all of our eggs in one basket” by relying so heavily on oil for our every need.  I don’t think that we need to stop using oil all together but we do need to stop the estimated $61 Billion in government subsidies for oil and related fossil fuel giants.  To read more about oil subsidies go to http://greeneconomypost.com/oil-companies-pay-fair-share-19203.htm#ixzz1XwMZl9OI.

Just as the world is made up of an array of beautiful colors, the debate on oil is not black and white.  It does not make since to totally ban the use of oil all together but rather to use the resource more sensibly.

Standard Oil of Ohio, founded in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller, Henry Flagler and Henry H. Rogers, was the first official “Oil Company” and produced nearly 90% of all the refined oil in the U.S. by 1911 when the company was broken up into 34 different companies under anti-trust laws.  As big as Standard Oil was, the dividends received Mr. Rockefeller and fellow shareholders also created hundreds of other smaller, by comparison, companies that made this country grow.  Not to mention the philanthropic contributions that are still being doled out to this day.

We need this message to be brought home…we are not trying to do away with oil; but make its use more efficient, and in the meantime use the knowhow and resources of Big Oil Companies to assist with bringing online new innovations.

Oil will always have a place in this world; so many products depend upon its chemical makeup.  But, as we develop alternative energy sources, better energy storage, smarter energy delivery; we will also develop more efficient uses for that technology including cleaner transportation and manufacturing processes that will do away with the burning of petroleum based fuels.