Living in Peace and Wisdom on our Planet

It was a different era in 1962.  Not only is the claim to be able to melt glaciers the height of irony in the 21st century (and even to far-sighted scientists in 1962), but phrases such as "Happy Motoring" show an innocence that some of us can remember – and that some people still blindly live in.  The phrase "Happy Motoring" has actually become a term of derision in the skilled hands of James Kunstler (see for example this article).

I want to point out that this Humble (later Exxon) advertisement is referring to direct conversion of fossil fuel into heat energy.  The mechanism of global warming is more powerful than that: the CO2 released from burning fossil fuels stays in the atmosphere well over 100 years, and continually traps the energy of sunlight, causing more heating than just the burning of the fuel.

Here is the text of the advertisement, for easier reading:

Each day Humble supplies enough energy to melt 7 million tons of glacier!

This giant glacier has remained unmelted for centuries.  Yet the petroleum energy Humble provides – if converted into heat – could melt it at the rate of 80 tons each second!  To meet the nation's growing needs for energy, Humble has applied science to nature's resources to become America's Leading Energy Company.  Working wonders with oil through research, Humble provides energy in many forms – to help heat our homes, power our transportation, and to furnish industry with a great variety of versatile chemicals.  Stop at a Humble station for new Enco Extra gasoline, and see why the "Happy Motoring" Sign is the World's First Choice!