In a refreshing change of pace, a kids’ TV show about the benefits of crude oil—which “impacts almost every aspect of our lives”—recently won a regional Emmy award (Chicago / Midwest Chapter) for “Outstanding Achievement for Children/Youth/Teen Programming.” The program, Decoding the Science of Crude Oil, part of the television series Into the Outdoors, featured the Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend refinery as it demonstrated how “we can convert the decomposed hydrocarbon residue from ancient sea life into the transportation fuels that drive our modern society.” The show not only addressed how crude oil is refined into transportation fuels and other products, but it explained how crude oil and refined products move safely and efficiently through pipelines. According to a Flint Hills Resources news release, the program “showed the inner workings of one of the nation’s largest and most complex oil refineries and how science is used every day to produce and transport the fuels and other products people depend on.” The program also featured Flint Hills Resources engineers, scientists, and project managers. What was most compelling about the show is that it featured the young hosts explaining to their peers, in language that they can understand, that the most important things in their lives are derived from crude oil. “Take a second to make a list of four things in life that you wouldn’t want to live without,” said one of the hosts. “Then cross off the things that were made from or by using hydrocarbons in some way. Got any left? Didn’t think so. So yeah, I think that we can all agree that we need refined hydrocarbons in our lives.” They young hosts are also supportive of the refining technology that removed sulphur and other impurities from crude oil. “So they remove impurities and recycle at the same time? That’s pretty cool!” The show ran numerous times this month throughout the Midwest, and it is available for viewing online. It is definitely worth watching … and sharing with people who want (or need) to be grounded in fact when talking about oil, natural gas and pipelines.