Refining Nature

Refining Nature PDF

Author: Jon Wlasiuk

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Published: 2018-03-07

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 0822983249

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The Standard Oil Company emerged out of obscurity in the 1860s to capture 90 percent of the petroleum refining industry in the United States during the Gilded Age. John D. Rockefeller, the company’s founder, organized the company around an almost religious dedication to principles of efficiency. Economic success masked the dark side of efficiency as Standard Oil dumped oil waste into public waterways, filled the urban atmosphere with acrid smoke, and created a consumer safety crisis by selling kerosene below congressional standards. Local governments, guided by a desire to favor the interests of business, deployed elaborate engineering solutions to tackle petroleum pollution at taxpayer expense rather than heed public calls to abate waste streams at their source. Only when refinery pollutants threatened the health of the Great Lakes in the twentieth century did the federal government respond to a nascent environmental movement. Organized around the four classical elements at the core of Standard Oil’s success (earth, air, fire, and water), Refining Nature provides an ecological context for the rise of one of the most important corporations in American history.

Secret Kansas: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

Secret Kansas: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure PDF

Author: Roxie Yonkey

Publisher: Reedy Press LLC

Published: 2023-04-01

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 1681064375

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Among Kansas’s many wheat fields lie secrets and hidden stories of heroes and villains that even a fiction author could never devise. It wasn’t just Dorothy Gale of the Wizard of Oz who roamed The Wheat State. Secret Kansas: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure will introduce you to a true cast of characters along with the little-known history of their inventions, deeds, and fame. Learn about the first indigenous woman to argue before the Supreme Court to save her ancestors’ graves from greedy developers. Discover how Frank Bellamy from Cherryvale wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, only to lose his claim to its authorship. Inventions abound in Kansas history such as Mentholatum which had a small role in ending World War II. From Capt. Emil Kapaun who is headed for sainthood to the fraudulent Goat Gland Doctor whose tonics started many entertainers’ careers, there’s no shortage of fascinating anecdotes to choose from. Add to that the countless examples of courageous captains, game-changing women, along with a few ne'er-do-wells whose biographies are chronicled here. Longtime Kansan Roxie Yonkey will unearth the hidden roads and secret passages to unearth the state’s buried treasures. Visitors and lifelong residents alike will find a surprise on every page.

Private Empire

Private Empire PDF

Author: Steve Coll

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2012-05-01

Total Pages: 704

ISBN-13: 1101572140

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From the award-winning and bestselling author of Ghost Wars and Directorate S, an “extraordinary” and “monumental” exposé of Big Oil (The Washington Post) Includes a profile of current Secretary of State and former chairman and chief executive of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson In this, the first hard-hitting examination of ExxonMobil—the largest and most powerful private corporation in the United States—Steve Coll reveals the true extent of its power. Private Empire pulls back the curtain, tracking the corporation’s recent history and its central role on the world stage, beginning with the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989 and leading to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The action spans the globe—featuring kidnapping cases, civil wars, and high-stakes struggles at the Kremlin—and the narrative is driven by larger-than-life characters, including corporate legend Lee “Iron Ass” Raymond, ExxonMobil’s chief executive until 2005, and current chairman and chief executive Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump's nomination for Secretary of State. A penetrating, news-breaking study, Private Empire is a defining portrait of Big Oil in American politics and foreign policy.

FTC Industry Conference on Marketing of Automotive Gasoline

FTC Industry Conference on Marketing of Automotive Gasoline PDF

Author: United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Small Business

Publisher:

Published: 1966

Total Pages: 2008

ISBN-13:

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Investigates costs for refining and distributing gasoline to wholesale and retail outlets, to ascertain if petroleum industry is destructively competitive, as allegedly reflected in periodic "price wars" where gasoline is marketed without benefit of a fair profit. Examines complex competitive problems facing small, independent producers vis-a-vis large-scale producers; pt.2: Includes Mid-Continent Independent Refiners Association's "Petition for a Trade Regulation Rule for the Marketing of Gasoline," Mar. 1964 (p. 1033-1749).

Crushing

Crushing PDF

Author: T. D. Jakes

Publisher: FaithWords

Published: 2019-04-16

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 145559539X

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Follow God's process for growth and find hope in life's darkest moments with Bishop T.D. Jakes's uplifting stories and advice from his own faith journey. In this insightful book, #1 New York Times bestselling author T.D. Jakes wrestles with age-old questions: Why do the righteous suffer? Where is God in all the injustice? Bishop Jakes tells crushing personal stories from his own journey -- the painful experience of learning his young teenage daughter was pregnant, the agony of watching his mother succumb to Alzheimer's, and the shock and helplessness he felt when his son had a heart attack. Bishop Jakes wants to show you how God uses difficult, crushing experiences to prepare you for unexpected blessings. If you are faithful through suffering, you will be surprised by God's joy, comforted by His peace, and fulfilled with His purpose. Crushing will inspire you to have hope, even in your most difficult moments. If you trust in God and lean on Him during setbacks, He will lead you through.

The Oil Business in Latin America

The Oil Business in Latin America PDF

Author: John D. Wirth

Publisher: Beard Books

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 9781587981036

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Essays covering five case studies to gain an insight into the unique Latin American approach to petroleum resources and industries.