Composition of relic:
Tax breaks, cheap loans, price controls, purchase requirements.
Factors that led us to abandon this object:
Restrictions on money in politics loosen hold of fossil fuel lobby; rise of cheap renewable energy lessens consumer and industry reliance on fossil fuels; public recognition of role of fossil fuel companies in climate change and human rights abuses.
Obstacles in the way of this relic being abandoned:
Fossil fuel companies and their political enablers.
Strategies we used to overcome those obstacles:
Lobbying and campaign finance restrictions; continued documentation of and campaigning on climate impacts of reliance on fossil fuels; promotion of renewable energy as alternative.
picture by Tom Blackwell, flickr