Snapshot: Petro Pete's Big Bad Dream (Read)

Oklahoma Energy Resources Board (OERB) publishes a series of books for children titled ‘Petro Pete’s Adventure’. The series introduces us to Pete, a young boy in Oklahoma, who faces many challenges of a world without petrochemicals. In ‘Petro Pete’s Big Bad Dream’, for example, he wakes up to a world where all petrochemical products have disappeared. He cannot wake up in time because his alarm clock is missing. He cannot get ready fast enough because his toothbrush and comb are nowhere to be found. He must go to school in pajamas. The school bus cannot pick him up as there is no gasoline. He has to walk, sadly.  He reaches the school just in time.  The teacher has scribbled, ‘The Story of Oil’ on the blackboard. She starts by asking students why Pete’s things are missing and if they might be connected to oil and gas. The lunch bell rings. Students are startled that the ice cream dispenser can only dispense milk. No soccer balls and basketballs at the playground, either. When students are back in the classroom, the teacher explains that Pete’s things are all petroleum by-products. Without oil and gas, so many things would go missing from the world! Another alarm rings. Pete realizes that the world without petroleum in it was a nightmare. 

According to the United States Energy Information & Administration, Oklahoma is one of largest producers and consumers of natural gas in the nation as a direct result of the shale gas boom. A significant share of the oil and gas investment into the state goes towards school districts and the development of curricular material like ‘Petro Pete’. Critics argue that these materials promote dependency on fossil fuels, do not address climate change, and are unhelpful for students wanting to leave the state. Further, oil and gas industries have stepped in to invest in schools because of the reduced budget for education. Tax breaks for oil and gas industries in the early 2000s meant that state budgets had to be cut when the shale gas boom went bust. Schools found themselves on the receiving end of these budget cuts.