It’s not necessary to posit a conspiracy theory to conclude that much of international conflict, domestic politics and even terrorism is underpinned by energy. Parties can be driven to cooperate from common interest without necessarily entering into explicit agreements.

The dilemma is how to sustain world economic growth without drawing the cords of gas and oil tighter around our necks, with all the instability they bring. Absent a clear technological breakthrough, the answer is probably to unleash the market or encourage it to find solutions in myriad ways. There may be no single magic bullet, but there may be a cocktail of solutions. It might actually be a good thing if the system did not lurch from dependency on one source to another.

Politics has paralyzed the energy debate by ideologizing it. Where to begin with the divides? Conservationist versus productionist. East versus West. Left versus Right. As long as the debate remains mired in these categories, there probably won’t be a very good answer to the problems which face the world.