Hubris Defined

This is a cautionary tale about arrogance in the energy business. When a 1914 dictionary dropped coal from its definition of “fuel,” the Standard Oil Bulletin gloated that coal was an “also-ran.” But cheap energy is tough to displace, and hubris is ill-advised. Over a century later, coal still reigns in the energy mix of most countries. Never count out the "also-rans."

To see the dictionary and the Standard Oil Bulletin in this story, visit energyphile.org/hubris.