I like your points, Chris, and I hope things become true! Energy abundance, mixed with a handful of decent world leaders, could bring world peace and resolve many other issues.
[USER=3]@Jeff Kershner[/USER] your hybrid question is a good one. That's the way. It is a fantastic compromise. My wife is in the market right now, and I have the rules set for diesel or hybrid. 500 miles on a tank of gas is something I appreciate a lot. Time is money, and the pump is boring.
As for solar, I have 81 panels on my roof powering an 18.3kw system. Where I live, an 18.4kw system requires classifying the address as a power station 
We installed this system nine years ago. I barely pay any utilities for a family of 5 in a 4,000 sqft house in cold MFing Vermont. Unfortunately, my original bet to get off net metering within ten years of installing this system looks like a loser. 10 years ago, we thought the battery technology would be strong enough to handle my use case in 2024. It is not there yet. I think it is for someone who lives in Arizona, but... snow.
Over 70% of Vermont's power is generated from dams, with another large chunk being renewable during the non-winter months. The rest is from coal. As someone with a personal stake and willingness to invest more, I don't see the current renewable path as the end-all yet. We are way too far away. I've also heard fission is still 30 to 50 years away. The recent news about fission seems to have come during a slow news cycle (AKA a distraction).
