Hi Paul. If you do find your way back here, I guess I do have a question. I've stated, below that in my view it is a little bit early to claim the fossil fuel industry has hit it's tipping point I have no doubt that a tipping point for fossil fuel does exist, and that it is likely not that far away. Were you aware that currently New England governors are looking to expand access to natural gas? Does a fact like that tempt you to revise your opinion regarding the fossil fuel tipping point and whether it has as yet been reached? Do you think the tobacco industry is a fair comparison in terms of evaluating where fossil fuels are today relative to your tipping point? You seem like a nice enough fella, and I only ask not because I think you are overly optimistic, but rather because I'm unclear how your article may impact the overall pace with which fossil fuels approach that tipping point. In my opinion, based on everything I have read, sooner would be better. I suspect that calls for a greater degree of agitation among the populace, which is something your article does not tend to inspire. That's just my feeling anyway. What do you think?
Good point ZenDog. I will write more on this in coming months, but I think community action against fossil fuels is a crucial part of the puzzle and the more the better - it creates higher costs for them and makes them less competitive. Of course tipping points are defined by the person calling them ! Fossil fuels are still expanding in many markets as you point out. But I think the tide has turned overall (for example huge collapse in forecast growth of coal use in developing countries) See here http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/03/20/energy-coal-prices-idINL6N0MH30Y20140320
Any decline in coal demand has got to be good news. A Chinese War On Pollution may be the single best thing to date in terms of positioning the geopolitical players in a way that makes a cooperative response to Global Warming even possible. But still, the U.S. consumes . . . or consumed . . . 18,490 barrels of oil per day during 2012 and our consumption beat China by nearly 2 to 1. Do you feel that the price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump is a fair barometer of demand? And if so, is demand a fair indicator of when or if a tipping point has been reached with regard to the demand for oil?