Crossing the Energy Divide: Moving from Fossil Fuel Dependence to a Clean-Energy Future

1. An American Awakening

Energy—that magical thing that enables vehicles to fly, Las Vegas to light up like a cosmic Christmas tree, or any basketball team or entertainer you choose to appear instantly in your living room—has always been abundant and cheap, at least for Americans. However, without cheap energy, our jet airplanes, electric lights, TV, and personal computers would be useless junk. When astute science-fiction writers envision a post-apocalyptic world, it isn’t the technologies that have been lost, but the energy to run them.

Before Americans found oil in Pennsylvania, and later in Texas and California, and long before we relied on imports from the Middle East, we had abundant supplies of wood and coal. Wood is still the main source ...