The word revolution connotes upheaval, swiftness, displacement, and even violent change. We put revolution in our name when we founded the site because we believe the change happening now is phenomenal and will forever alter our relationship with energy. We are undergoing a “technological transformation of energy production, distribution, and consumption to green, clean, and sustainable methods taking place in the first half of the 21st century.”
So where’s the revolution? Most of us still drive all-gas vehicles. The hydrogen highway is nowhere to be seen (I certainly haven’t ridden on it). Renewable energy makes up a still minuscule part of energy production in the U.S. and the world at large. The pace of change and adoption of new technologies is slow.
These may be signs that we are not in a revolutionary era. But if you look closely, the changes are real and the world is revolting, even if it’s still in the early stages of overthrowing the established order and way of production. Perhaps, to borrow a science reference from Eric, “in science, Thomas Kuhn defined a revolution as occurring after a crisis emerged. A crisis is roughly when the way of being that exists is no longer compatible with the knowledge that has accumulated.” That seems about where we are. Though there has been no extinction event or other crisis of epic proportions, our current way of being is not compatible with our accumulating knowledge. That has kicked off the revolution. It’s not always so easily perceptible but it is occurring. If you think about your own life, your town, your interactions over the last several years, there are probably a few examples that you can think of to drive this point home.
The following line from the Declaration of Independence – which is obviously most meaningful and reverberates the loudest when read in context – can nonetheless be applied to many situations, including the change to a new energy relationship.
”Experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer [...] than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”
In the future, do we really want to suffer? Let’s right ourselves by abolishing the forms to which we are accustomed.
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