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"The world is on the hook to lower the average temperature by 1 to 1.5 degrees C over the next few years. One good volcano should take care of that for us..."

Me thinks we are going to get an earful and a half in the upcoming months about our obligations due to the recent climate kumbaya session held in Paris. We are going to hear (again) how bad we are. How our driving habits, how we get our electricity, how we do just about everything, is causing the desertification of Timbuktu. AND, how we now have an obligation to financially compensate Timbuktu, as well as to fix our energy future.

A bit of reality first. Where are we today in our consumption of energy? Not much has changed over the past few years. As far as energy is concerned, we still get 25% from petroleum, 22% from coal, 22% from natural gas, about 9% from nuclear and 8% from renewable.

Looking at some of these energy sources more closely, this is what we find:

Petroleum - Despite the best efforts of our Administration, we have become a world leader in petroleum. And we have a lot of it. Current estimates are we have (at today's consumption) 7 years remaining of proven reserves. If we add in what we think is offshore, that number is increased by another 10 to 15 years. Horizontal drilling in the Bakken Field is also adding to that number. And when the day comes that we start to see the end of our proven reserves, we have a motherlode of oil sand and oil shale reserves. How much oil shale? Current estimates are over two trillion barrels worth. 

Coal - Our country was built on coal. It is abundant and it is cheap. And we still have quite a bit left unmined. How much? Based on our consumption patterns of 2013, we have over 260 years of a proven coal supplies left.

Natural Gas - Not nearly as much as coal remains. At current consumption, proven reserves would yield over 80 years remaining. And this number seems to rise every year.

Renewables - As good as this sounds, a large portion of the renewables come from a source we have used for years - hydroelectric. An event larger amount comes from biofuels. What remains is a few percentage points for everything else (wind, solar). 

So where do we go from here? For the first time in many a decade, we are in great shape as far as energy is concerned. And coal, which is our most abundant fuel source, it also the biggest villain. It is number one on the Administration's ten most wanted list. Never mind that 40% of our electricity comes from coal. And the five year forecast is for electrical demand (and production) to go up (slightly).

Here is the bottom line as I see it. Even though our President told the world at the start of the COP21 event the United States is the world's second largest polluter, each year we are getting better. We are getting cleaner. Our coal scrubbers are better. More electric plants are switching to natural gas. More trucks and buses are switching to natural gas. Our gasoline burning cars are much cleaner than 20 years ago. Airplanes are cleaner, trains are cleaner. Our houses are more energy efficient. And the story goes on and on.

I think 50 years from now, historians will look back on these days with bemusement. By that time we will probably have a new abundant fuel source and life will be grand. However, the climate will continue to change, and the causes for it will continue to be sought. The smart thinkers 50 years from now will have figured out why the climate continues to change. Because that is what climates do. Always have, always will.