Looking around the American landscape for any sense of normal behavior is a fatuous exercise at best. You can be certain, however, that the once great experiment in self-governance has succumbed to an autoimmune disease which cripples the victim by eroding their ability to think logically while paying attention to what is happening, and not what is being said. Our current civilization is a testament to the advantages humans have discovered and created in their energy supply chain. To quote professor Vaclav Smil, “we are a fossil fueled civilization, and we will be for a long time to come.” Professor Smil has researched, written, and lectured about energy transitions more than anyone on the planet. Just do a search for Smil and energy transitions and be prepared for some shocks to your green assumptions. This article, from the Manhattan Contrarian further supports my contention that western civilization is succumbing to suicide on the energy installment plan. They are installing alternative energy systems that will drive them into the dark ages. Germany is leading the way with their energy schizophrenia. They had a perfectly adequate fossil fueled electron delivery system and then, following their penchant for final solutions, they installed an alternative energy system even larger than the conventional system already in place, that only works about 11% of the time (quoting Smil). Other industrial countries are blindly following the German folly. Germany, by the way, has the highest energy prices in the world, with one of the least reliable energy systems in the world. It is, however, very modern and as alternative as German engineering can make it.
Peter Reshetniak: Founder