Oil and Ice: A Story of Arctic Disaster and the Rise and Fall of America's Last Whaling Dynasty

This book ties it all together—today's crises of oil and melting ice, seen through the lens of a historical disaster with similar economic principles albeit lesser stakes. It's the story of how an entire fleet of whaling ships was caught in an arctic ice storm and destroyed. Though few lives were lost, the damage would forever shape one of America's most distinctive commodities: oil. We used to get our energy from blubber, but this disastrous whaling season heralded a new age of slurping up from the earth by the barrel-load. Problematic no matter what way you look at it, and some vital history for anyone who's interested in energy issues past, present, and future.