Vaclav Smil brings scientific perspective to an issue often dominated by groundless assertions, unfounded claims, and uncritical thinking.

National, state, and even local governments have taken to promising a rapid overhaul of our energy system from its current basis in fossil fuels to a clean energy system based on renewable energy generated by windmills and solar power stations. These pledges translate into ambitious changes over a very short...

Any global energy transition will be prolonged and expensive and will hinge on the development of an extensive new infrastructure, but traditional energy sources and established energy con-versions are persistent and adaptable enough to see the world through that transition.

Al Gore called for a program that would lead to the internal-combustion engine's elimination by 2017. His vision is utterly untethered to reality.

When will Obama admit he supports energy rationing? The real problem with the White House's attitude toward oil, and energy generally, is how deeply ideological it is. Few presidents have talked a bigger game about pragmatism while pursuing a dogmatic agenda.

Ever since Richard Nixon's call for "energy independence," U.S. Presidents have talked about energy policy, mostly incoherently. Continuing that tradition, President Obama is now crisscrossing the country and giving speeches touting his administration's energy plan, the "Blueprint for Energy Security."