On Feb 28, 2008, at 5:57 PM, Gerhard Fiedler wrote:

>>> Only if you accept the premise that we must use the currently  
>>> 'accepted'
>>> amount of energy ( and at the current price).
>>
>> Yes. I enjoy modern technology. I don't want to return to the 16th
>> century, with lifespans of 30 years.
>
> When was the last time you were outside the USA? That may not  
> necessarily
> be a time travel 400 years back :)

Well, yeah.  Even if what we current consider the "first world"  
manages to use their energy more efficiently and cuts their energy  
consumption in half while maintaining what they consider a reasonable  
standard of living, there's still a good part of the world that would  
be INCREASING their energy consumption to reach that same standard of  
living.  I don't think it would be a good idea from either a moral or  
practical point of view to tell a couple billion people "I'm sorry,  
the energy is all gone, you can't have any."

Perhaps the US will become a backwater part of civilization "still  
BURNING fossil fuels" while the rest of the world goes nuclear and  
passes us in any number of ways.  I hear that France is up to about  
85% nuke for power generation.  Good for them!  (too bad about the  
glowing frogs' legs...)

BillW

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