Listening to an Energy Expert I Remembered the Blessings of God

Listening to an energy expert I remembered the Blessings of God

Mark Mills is my favorite technology writer. He is a fellow at a think tank—the Manhattan Institute. He is never shrill, sarcastic, or bitter. He simply gives common sense explanations of what is going on in the economy, the field of energy, and the latest claims of the climate cult.

Recently the Wall Street Journal had an article by some of the chief priests of the climate religion on the progress of the so-called “energy transition.” Their argument is basically a hallelujah--we are abandoning fossil fuels and moving to renewables. Green pulpits all over America are preaching from the same green text.

Mills responded with an article: “Why there will never be an energy transition.” Mills argues that not only is it never going to happen but, in fact, it’s never happened in the history of the human race. 

It was not the basic intent of his article but Mills reminds us of the greatness of God. In the first chapter of the Bible God tells man that he will have dominion over the earth in order to bring him material blessing. Psalm 8 repeats that promise, speaking of man’s use of nature to bring him great prosperity.  And there are a hundred other verses that repeat these promises. God giving man abundance and blessing. In talking about how mankind uses energy Mills confirms the biblical teaching on material abundance.

Here are some of the facts. Human beings have used the same sources of energy for thousands of years and there is no reason to believe we will stop using any of them before the Lord returns. We use grains—to power the work of human beings and animals; we use wood to cook food and keep us warm; historically we have used water to power watermills that grind grain and today we use water to provide electricity through the many dams we have built. We have used wind to power windmills that have performed many functions and today provide electricity. And we use fossil fuels to run machines and provide electricity. 

God has given human beings dominion over the earth and the intelligence to use what’s in the earth for our benefit. And the benefits have been so enormous we can’t even begin to calculate them. And we are not transitioning away from any of them in spite of the false prophecies of the Green cult.

For example, did you know that we produce more grain—and food in general—today than we have ever produced in history? And we don’t just eat grain; we use it to power our cars and trucks in the form of ethanol.

At no point in the history of mankind have we burned as much wood as we burn today. Wood supplies the world with twice as much energy than all the solar panels and windmills combined. Mills says, “Even in the U.S., use of wood for fuel is greater now than a century ago. A wood transition? Not yet.”

What about waterpower? Mills again: “The use of watermills for industrial grinding of grains dates back to ancient Greece. It soared during the Middle Ages, when 500,000 watermills operated in Europe. But that was hardly peak waterpower. Global hydro dams today produce…500 times more energy than watermills in the Middle Ages.”

What about wind power? “Windmills…didn’t peak in the past, though there were…200,000 of them in the Middle Ages, as well as tens of thousands of wind-powered vessels, that is, sailing ships, by the nineteenth century. Global wind turbines harvest at least fifty-fold more wind energy than at any time in history.”

Finally, what about those evil fossil fuels? They are the greatest source of energy in the history of the human race. Are we transitioning away from them? Hardly. They provide 80% of the world’s energy. Are they declining? No; we use more oil, natural gas, and coal than we ever have in history and each year we increase their use. No energy transition here.

All this should cause us to give glory to God for His abundant provision. We enjoy a material lifestyle better than any human beings have ever had because the gifts he gives us in nature and the intellectual gifts he has given to those created in His image. I believe our greatest sin is a lack of gratitude. Let us bow our heads today and thank the Lord our God our maker for His abundant blessings.



The Mills article:

https://www.city-journal.org/article/energy-transition-green-new-deal?mod=djemMER_h