Dear All,
I have just sent this letter to Time magazine.
Dear Editor,
Your article 'A Brief History Of: The Oil Barrel' By Kate Pickert
(Thursday, Jun. 05, 2008) was possibly historically interesting, but
its best achievement was to point up the silliness of using a mid
1800s word, barrel, as a technical term for the 21st century.
We now live in a world focused on peak oil and climate change. Our
survival on planet Earth may depend on how well we understand and
communicate energy related issues. Using the word 'barrel' does not
help.
As your article points out, we can't even compare energy use in Russia
and Japan with the USA. A litre of oil from the Middle East should be
recognised, in all countries, as a litre of oil without any need for
conversion into measures that are archaic (barrels) or local (gallons).
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/
for more metrication information, contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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