Petroleum, God's gift to the world

Besides Jesus, I would have to say Petroleum is pretty close up there on the list of amazing things God has given us.
First of all, when I think of Petroleum I do not think about fuel! Aaaaghhh! (I think that's how you spell a very agonized yell). The fact of the matter is that about 90% of Petroleum goes to fuel: yes, cars, trucks, factories, all that. It vaporizes into carbon dioxide and water and some shorter carbon chains and ends up totally wasted (except for the marvelous gift of acid rain, of course.)
The real reason petroleum is wonderful, however, is because of Polymer molecules and polymer chemistry- which unfortunately only accounts for a measly little 5% of petroleum usage.
For those who haven't heard my long lecture about them yet: polymers are long chain molecules of repeating units, like beads on a string, that can be millions of units long, but are a minimum of 100 units in length. Think rubber, Nylon, polyester, Lycra, Mylar, Kevlar, latex, Teflon, Dacron, etc.
It's hard to think of an area of life that is not affected by polymers. Cars, for example. Chairs. Foam mattresses. All the plastic in the world. The computer I'm typing on, the packaging around my food that keeps it fresh longer, the paint on my walls.... And just when you might think you can live a pure life and do away with polymers- think again! Wood contains cellulose, which is a natural polymer. DNA, protein, some sugars- these are all natural polymers!
Synthetic polymers make our lives easier, safer (latex gloves), better (lighter aircraft because of machined polymer parts), and so much happier.
Happy Heather's Hullaballoo categorically supports the polymer industry and all forms of polymer science and technology, because Happy Heather's Hullaballoo wants to make the world a happier place.