Couple of random thoughts:

Anybody remember the Synfuels Corporation? Jimmy Carter’s bright idea was established in 1980 with a projected “investment” of $88 billion. It was folded in 1985. Reason? No results.

The electrical grid in the US is the most complex machine in the world. We have seen how seemingly miniscule events cam bring it down. On Feb. 28, 2008 the Texas grid came very close to shutting down because of a sudden drop in wind power. A significant increase in unreliable power sources will smash it to smithereens. Unexpected cloud across the sun? One third of the US loses power.

A few years ago there was a brush fire northeast of Phoenix. The environmentalists were screaming about the utter destruction of “our fragile desert”. Two years later you couldn’t find a sign of the fire. I spent 20 years in the desert. Every animal and plant there has thorns and teeth and poison. They can go for a year without water. Fragile?