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Post Carbon Senior Fellow Richard Heinberg was interviewed by Joseph F. Cotto at the Washington Times.
From the interview:
Joseph F. Cotto: This is surely one of the most polarized eras in American politics, especially as far as energy issues are concerned. Not so long ago, finding consensus on the best energy policy was not such a partisan debacle. Why do you believe that the times have changed?
Richard Heinberg: Energy is always political. It’s at the heart of everything we do, so questions about what energy sources we use and how we use them are also questions about economic and social power. Today we are at a crossroads with regard to energy. The sources that gave us tremendous GDP growth during the 20th century are losing their economic punch and are putting the planet in peril. So our energy future is up for grabs—and there are no easy solutions. That’s a prescription for partisan posturing, which generates far more heat than light: the level of energy literacy being displayed in the political debate is absolutely abysmal. Evidently the truth has no constituency.
What we hear instead are two competing myths—that of fossil fuel abundance (“drill baby drill”) and that of green growth. The truth is, we face harsh realities and hard choices: the era of cheap, abundant energy is over. But almost nobody in politics will talk about this. As a result, the realities are likely to get harsher and the choices harder.
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