The oil spill caused by a rupture in the Plains All American coastal pipeline near Refugio Beach has led to demands for a quicker transition to renewable energy. Unfortunately every energy technology, including electric car batteries and solar photovoltaic cells, has environmental costs that must be reckoned with.
Moreover, major technological transitions can be painfully slow.
Absent a scientific breakthrough, modern industrial societies will continue to rely on fossil fuels, hydroelectric power, and nuclear energy for decades to come. The transition to other forms of energy is dependent on hard-won scientific and engineering advances, not political wish lists.