[USMA:41123] Re: Time magazine, June 16, 2008, page 20, "A Brief History of:The Oil Barrel"

[Pat Naughtin]

On 2008/06/16, at 1:51 AM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Pat,
Even better would be "kilograms of oil" of light crude or of some  
other grade of crude oil in units of mass, not volume.

Gene.


Dear Gene,

You're right. I just didn't have the courage to go directly from  
barrels to tonnes even though I know that that is closest to the  
current reality. I figured that, to get published in the letters  
column, the jump from barrels to litres was about as much as the  
letters editor could handle.

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] 
 or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/ 
 to subscribe.

---- Original message ----
Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:01:57 +1000
From: Pat Naughtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [USMA:41107] Re: Time magazine, June 16, 2008, page 20, "A  
Brief History of:The Oil Barrel"
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <usma@colostate.edu>

 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] or to get the
 free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to:
 http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/ to
 subscribe.