The question is not, "What fuel is used to make the majority of electricity?" It is, "How do we need to make electricity to minimize the effects of CO2, hydrocarbon, and petrochemical emissions?"
It is time to redefine "being conservative" as "conserving our collective future," rather than "conserving the special interests of a few."
PARTS of the solution include (where feasible):
> Rooftop solar connected to the grid, with optional underground battery storage (mitigates the fire hazard issue)
> Solar farms
> Grid-connected hydroelectric storage solutions (pump water uphill during off-peak hours; recover power with hydroelectric generation during peak demand)
> Tidal hydroelectric generation
> Nuclear fusion (Small Modular Reactors —
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/10/nuclear-power-power-plant-smrs-clean-energy/)
> Nuclear fission (Maybe 50-100 years away, but still a worthy goal)
> Wind Turbines
> Geothermal heating/cooling for new structures
> New technologies in development but not yet marketable
As a famous physicist once said, "Time is natures way of making sure everything does not happen at once."
It will take time to shift from conventional nuclear, coal, natural gas, oil, and other 'dirty' energy sources.
It will take time to develop new, safer battery technologies.
It will take time to build hydrogen filling stations, and to develop hydrogen extraction processes that don't waste electricity generated by fossil fuels.
We don't have a lot of time, so we'd best be working on it and not arguing about it.
The oil companies knew — more than fifty years ago — that fossil fuels were becoming an existential threat. The science was pretty clear when I took high school chemistry. It is a testament to the power of billionaires and companies lobbying politicians that the issue has been suppressed as well as it has.
It seems the majority of Americans want to drive a gigantic SUV or pickup. Yet those SUVs seldom carry more than one or two people, and pickups are rarely seen hauling stuff. I'm always amazed at how few people use the HOV toll lanes on I-77 just North of Charlotte. Carpooling is NOT popular. So why do people buy vehicles for carpooling and vehicles for hauling when they so seldom carpool or haul stuff?
We're happy driving our hybrids 98% of the time, and renting trucks and vans whenever we actually need them.
The question is not, "What fuel is used to ma... (