It’s the same mindset that lead to using dispersants on the oil spilled by deep horizon. It’s not about science, it’s about dealing with a problem that has no easy good solution, so instead of a good solution, just something is done.
Oil companies probably thought that people would be more resistant to buying oil if it needed special effort to dispose of properly. Maybe they didn’t even have a good way of dealing with it at that time and just hadn’t dumped enough of it yet to realize that it would eventually run down into the water table. Though going by how they handled realizing that burning oil at all was going to have a huge effect on climate, they likely wouldn’t have cared even if they did know.
Just like deep horizon wasn’t an environmental problem for BP but a PR one, thus they selected solutions that looked like they were trying, that they shouldn’t be liquidated to fund a real cleanup effort, and that new deep water oil wells were still worth the risk. Think of all the retirees that they are holding hostage because they put money towards funds that bought BP stock and derivatives!
My great aunt used to spray gasoil on her potato plants to get rid of pests. I have no idea if it worked, but she had a lot of completely bonkers ideas.
The fuck has this to do with “science”? How were they this retarded only 60 years ago? I wonder how many really did that.
“Oil comes from the ground, so it must be okay”
“Out of sight, out of mind”
It’s the same mindset that lead to using dispersants on the oil spilled by deep horizon. It’s not about science, it’s about dealing with a problem that has no easy good solution, so instead of a good solution, just something is done.
Oil companies probably thought that people would be more resistant to buying oil if it needed special effort to dispose of properly. Maybe they didn’t even have a good way of dealing with it at that time and just hadn’t dumped enough of it yet to realize that it would eventually run down into the water table. Though going by how they handled realizing that burning oil at all was going to have a huge effect on climate, they likely wouldn’t have cared even if they did know.
Just like deep horizon wasn’t an environmental problem for BP but a PR one, thus they selected solutions that looked like they were trying, that they shouldn’t be liquidated to fund a real cleanup effort, and that new deep water oil wells were still worth the risk. Think of all the retirees that they are holding hostage because they put money towards funds that bought BP stock and derivatives!
Fossil fuel companies knew from the start burning it was bad. They have always known.
My grandfather used to drizzle his used motor oil along his fence to help control weeds.
I found that sentence as difficult to type as you might hope.
My great aunt used to spray gasoil on her potato plants to get rid of pests. I have no idea if it worked, but she had a lot of completely bonkers ideas.
I wouldn’t eat those potatoes.
I just put it in the fuel tank of my old diesel car.