‘Switch’ Illuminates Energy Issues Without Lighting Faucets

July 18, 2013

Forbes, July 16, 2013
Featuring: Scott Tinker

Last night, I watched the documentary “Switch,” narrated by Scott Tinker, a University of Texas professor and head of the Bureau of Economic Geology. Unlike “Gasland Part II,” the sensationalist all-fossil-fuels-are-bad screed that you’re likely to hear more about this summer, “Switch” offers a scientific look at how we use energy and how difficult it’s going to be to move away from fossil fuel. It also drives home the point that weaning ourselves from oil and coal in the U.S. is essential.

While coal is cheap and abundant, it’s dirty, and “clean coal” technology simply isn’t economically viable. “We probably could make coal clean,” Tinker says, “but we probably can’t afford to.”