Power Shift: From Fossil Energy to Dynamic Solar Power

Gr 6–10—Preaching the gospel of solar, albeit at a length that may cause most readers to nod off in their pews, Stayton takes the stance that humanity has passed through the Wood Energy Epoch and the Fossil Fuel Epoch, and so it is now high time to embrace an energy source that is limitless, pollution-free, easily available to all, and getting radically cheaper by the year. Along with describing, with plenty of documentation, how our current energy practices are leading to dangerous climate change and ocean acidification, he considers and dismisses each type of energy source—including not just fossil fuels but alternatives from biofuels and nuclear reactors to geothermal power. His conclusion: "Solar is the one." Furthermore, he rightly notes that, considering the failure of the Kyoto Accords and every other international effort to rein in environmental mismanagement, change is unlikely to come through either corporate or governmental initiatives. In his view "individual action" is the only valid road to "energy freedom." The claims that humans are the only animals to use external energy sources or create food growing systems are debatable, and his call to eliminate fossil fuels completely from the energy picture and an assurance that the conversion to solar would be relatively painless are both, to say the least, naïve. However, he makes a strong case that change is both necessary and inevitable. A few drawings and charts provide additional data and some visual relief.