I worked for a global oil company a few years back. I had then and have now no misgivings whatsoever about that work. I think the average anti-oil person livin

I worked for a global oil company a few years back. I had then and have now no misgivings whatsoever about that work. I think the average anti-oil person living in a developed country drastically underestimates the centrality of hydrocarbons to our way of life, and the devastating impact on all of our lives of a rapid shift to zero-carbon etc. Think little food, modern medicine, sanitation, and drastically reduced opportunities for travel and education for example - this would resemble the lifestyle of someone living in Tipi Valley, which is the closest thing we have to zero-carbon in the UK as of 2020, and even they effectively still parasite themselves to a significant degree on the oil-driven economy. I'm all for protecting the planet but the answers are so complex, and oil - being such a wondrous substance with myriad applications - is so tightly woven into our lives that it will take decades to unpick the linkages, and in many cases this will likely not be possible unless we really are prepared to accept giant steps backwards for civilisation. That said, I'm all for tackling the worst excesses immediately. We could start with swingeing punitive taxation on Canada and Germany, for example, for tar sands and coal respectively. We could also introduce a complete ban on the use of oil in favour of LNG for marine transportation. Edit: I think this piece is remarkably smug, judgemental and bourgeois in tone, and specifically as regards the military/police aspects, I'm reminded of the quote attributed to Orwell (that may or may not be accurate, but sums up my feelings well): 'People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf'.