The Struggle for a Sustainable Energy Policy Is Played at a Very High Level
Below I’ve linked to a video gone viral that I wanted to share because it illustrates a phenomenon that we see all around us and, to some degree defines our civilization today. I call it: “The good are getting better,” which means that the top players in each field are constantly improving.
Perhaps the most visible examples are in sports. If you look at tapes of professional tennis matches or basketball games from 50 years ago, you think you’re looking at a different sport; players just keep getting stronger and faster each year, and so the way these sports are played today barely resemble what they were like when I was a young boy.
Here’s a young but extremely high-level particle physicist (Tim Blais) who happens to make music videos at a world-class level. I’m breathless. Who in blazes is this guy? Can you imagine the level of talent required to produce anything anywhere near this? Yet that’s the intensity of competition we face in today’s world.
There’s an analogy to the world of energy. Sure, good things are happening for those of us who care about sustainability:
• Public consciousness is rapidly evolving in our favor
• Each year provides new, better, and less-expensive technology
• Economies of scale are driving additional downward pressure on pricing
Sounds good, huh? But the guy on the other side of the net isn’t just standing there in admiration, watching us improve; he’s raising his game too. Better (though controversial) technologies for extracting and refining unconventional energy sources like tar sands and shale gas are the obvious examples. But at the political level, these people have amped up their influence as well. The oil companies employ more lobbyists than any other group in the known universe — and they’re extremely effective in driving legislation favorable to their clients.
Where is this going? Frankly, I really don’t know. What I do know is that advocates for a sustainable energy policy need to be razor sharp. This is not a transition that is going to manage itself, because its opponents carry a very broad sword, and they’re honing it every day.
We need more Tim Blais’s, what a great way to make physics fun. This may be a great way to get young people to study physics and other sciences. We will need them, a lot. Education is also going down , the quality of everything is going down, we need more positive input, more enthusiasm and persevere. When one sees (and hears) things like this you get enthused also. We need to see more positive attitudes, this will inspire others.
And yes, we have to be more sharper, wittier, think and act with tactical moves and put our sights on our final aim, plan our moves to be coherent, walk the talk, we should also be honing our swords every day and get better at it in every way.