ABSTRACT
The economy-and lifestyle-of the industrialized world is entirely dependent on oil. Oil is big business, both for private and public enterprise and state revenue: Exxon, the world’s largest oil company made a net profit of US$5 billion in 1987; 55 states depend essentially on a single product for their export income-for 24 of them, that product is oil and gas. The oil industry seems larger than life; so, unfortunately, is the pollution it causes. The extraction and transport of oil are among the highest-risk industrial activities, causing long-lasting ecological disruption and widespread pollution.
