Hey,

What’s the deal today? It’s motorcycle month.The sun is shining in Deadwood. And politicians are fighting all over the country, when we’re living in the best of times. The news is packed, and I’m waiting to close on our Sturgis property so I can unpack.



Let’s hit the news:



The Bikernet Weekly News is sponsored in part by companies who also dig Freedom including: Cycle Source Magazine, the MRF, Las Vegas Bikefest, Iron Trader News, ChopperTown, BorntoRide.com and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum.








PRISM DEAL OF THE WEEK-- 30% Off Tool Racks
Get all Tool Racks for only $17.50 today, May 6.
Sale lasts from 8 AM through midnight EST.

www.Prismsupply.com





SOMEONE HAD NICELY EXPLAINED--The irony in the present situation:

Never have I seen
such a mess in life.

The air got cleaner but
wearing a mask is
mandatory.

Roads are empty
but it is prohibited
to go on long drive.

People have clean
hands but they are told to
stop shaking hands.

Friends have time to
sit together but they
cannot get together.

The cook inside you has learned recipes,
but you cannot call anyone for lunch or dinner.

Every weekday,
the heart longs to go out,
and the weekend does not seem to end.

Those who have money, have limited ways to spend it.

Those who don't have money, have no way to earn it.

There is enough time on hand but you can't pursue your dreams.

The culprit is all around but cannot be seen.

Be positive but test negative.

--Wayfarer
Emperor Editor
Bikernet News Bureau
India





BIKERS INSIDE THE BELTWAY--
Moving Forward & Making It Happen

Your MRF is moving forward & making it happen. However, we need your help…

Have you registered for Bikers Inside the Beltway? It’s free but time is running out!

GO TO THE MRF WEBSITE TO REGISTER

Have you made your appointments to visit your members of Congress? Make your appointments now in your district or in Washington, D.C.
Have you made your hotel reservations?

Final date for hotel registration, May 13, 2021: 703-684-5900 Embassy Suites by Hilton Alexandria, 1900 Diagonal Road, Alexandria, Virginia 22314
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation is moving forward to make the 2021 Bikers Inside the Beltway our most effective event ever.

Thank you for your commitment to the MRF’s mission. Thank you for making appointments with your members of Congress. Thank you for taking action and asking your members of Congress to support H.R. 2141. Click here to see the position paper on H.R. 2141.

Thank you for your membership and support of the Motorcycle Riders Foundation.
.
--Fredric Harrell
Director, Conferences & Events
Motorcycle Riders Foundation
P.O. Box 250
Highland, Illinois 62249






MOTO ANATOMY x Royal Enfield Rider Johnny Lewis Captures Fifth Place at Atlanta
Lewis charged from the back of the field after first lap incident

Moto Anatomy x Royal Enfield rider Johnny Lewis captured fifth place during the American Flat Track (AFT) Atlanta Super TT at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Lewis was fast all weekend and despite a crash on the first lap that forced him to start from the back of the field, Lewis made quick work of the back half of the field and settled into fifth. The top five finish showcases the development work the team has done since the opening round in Volusia.

The Super TT format played well into Moto Anatomy X Royal Enfield rider’s strengths, as Lewis is an accomplished supermoto rider and rides motocross regularly as part of his training. During the opening lap, Lewis made a strong start, but high-sided coming out of the first corner, breaking his helmet visor and inflating his airbag suit. After the field was red-flagged, Lewis was able to regroup and rejoin the race at the back of the field.

“We showed great speed all weekend, but the incident on the first lap meant we had our work cut out for us,” said Moto Anatomy x Royal Enfield rider Johnny Lewis. “The team has been working extremely hard since Volusia. David and Bryan Lloyd along with the rest of the team have put in long hours to get more power out of the Twins FT. We ran at the top of the field all weekend and feel great about the progress we’ve made. Obviously, we had hoped for a podium result but that’s racing.”

The Atlanta Super TT course utilized both the front straightaway of the NASCAR oval and portions of dirt in the infield grass. The track made for great racing action and Lewis was running in the top two during practice and qualifying, then won his semi-final race in convincing fashion. The fifth-place finish and the speed shown by Lewis all weekend highlights the behind-the-scenes work the team continues to do in search of furthering the performance of the Twins FT package.

The American Flat Track season will return on May 22 at Texas Motor Speedway for the Mission Foods Texas Half Mile Presented by Roof Systems. Lewis will look to take the momentum from his fifth-place finish into the next round in Texas.

During the race weekend, the Get On! Moto Show will also take place around the speedway, with demo rides, custom bike displays, music, food and more Friday through Sunday. Johnny Lewis will also be hosting a Royal Enfield Slide School powered by Moto Anatomy that weekend as well.

To learn more, visit Get On! Moto Show or purchase tickets directly at AmericanFlatTrack.com.







HEADLINE OF THE WEEK--According to this the swiftness of the reopening of normal life was stunning to the NY inhabitants. 18 months before you pull your head out of your ass and that's considered being alert.

--J.J. Solari
Media Research Consultant
Bikernet.com




H-D DEALERSHIP INVESTIGATION--Does anyone have a clue as to what is going on at Harley-Davidson? I'm standing in a dealership. We have only 8 new bikes on the showroom floor, and it’s May?

Get this, there are ten New models, but we can't get them? Won't be many dealers left by the time this new CEO finishes. This reminds me of the ‘70s. Walk into a dealership and you would maybe see five new bikes? Someone in Milwaukee needs to wake up, FAST!

--STEALTH
Associate Editor
Bikernet.com

"This is one of the biggest human rights stories on earth."

America’s leading climate and environmental groups including Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Energy Foundation, and Environmental Defense Fund have not responded to repeated queries about evidence that China is forcing Uyghur Muslims to make the solar panels that the three groups promote as a core solution to climate change.

NRDC, Environmental Defense Fund, and Energy Foundation are the three most influential environmental organizations within the Biden Administration and among Democrats in Congress. In December, President Joe Biden named NRDC President & CEO Gina McCarthy as his National Climate Advisor. The organizations routinely denounce abuses of human rights and issue regular calls for environmental justice.

Why, then, aren’t they calling for a ban on solar panels made in China?

Yesterday, the Solar Energy Industries Association issued a set of guidelines, or a “protocol,” for solar panel companies to use to avoid the use of genocide labor. “Solar customers expect their products to be ethically produced, and this protocol helps ensure that solar products coming into the United States are not made using forced labor,” it says.

But conditions in Xinjiang are determined by the Chinese government which is repressing the Muslim population. “It has become almost impossible to talk of voluntary labor among a group of people who are in immediate danger of being incarcerated for no reason whatsoever,” said a Xinjiang expert.

Noted the Wall Street Journal, “Chinese manufacturers aren’t always transparent about where they are getting their raw materials, and wafer makers sometimes mix polysilicon from Xinjiang and other regions together."

The Association did not respond to my query as to whether or not it would support a ban on solar panels from China until the protocol can be implemented. Republicans have introduced legislation to ban solar panels made in China but have not been joined by Democrats.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government shows no sign of supporting a relocation of its solar panel industry from Xinjiang, and continues to deny claims of genocide.

NRDC, EDF, and Energy Foundation receive over $100 million each from mostly anonymous donors. One of EDF’s largest donors is oil, gas and renewables investor Julian Robertson, who has donated $60 million to EDF and sits on EDF’s governing board.

NRDC had at least $70 million of its own funds directly invested in natural gas and solar panel companies through BlackRock, a shadow bank whose former senior official, Brian Deese, is head of President Biden’s National Economic Council.

All three have large offices in China. People close to the organizations told me on background that their offices would be jeopardized if any of these groups criticized China for genocide.

In 2018, a “senior strategic director with NRDC published a book, Will China Save the Planet? a book which praised the country for “leading the development of a global system of green finance.”

After NRDC was criticized by members of Congress for being too cozy with China, an NRDC spokesperson said, “We’re proud of our work, in China and elsewhere, helping to create a more sustainable future for everyone.”

Last year, BlackRock raised $5 billion for its Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Fund which invested in businesses connected with “renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro and waste-to-energy).”

The same relationships bind EDF. “EDF has served as an advisor on China's highest international advisory body on the environment,” the organization’s Chinese staff boast, “which reports directly to the Premier every year.”

Jeffrey Sachs Says It’s Not Genocide

Some environmentalists like Columbia University’s Director of the Center for Sustainable Development Director, Jeffrey Sachs, recently called the genocide claim “flimsy.” “There are credible charges of human rights abuses against Uighurs,” he adds, “but those do not per se constitute genocide.”

However, the parliaments of the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands and many other nations have described China’s policy as one of genocide.

After I emailed Sachs, who was head of Columbia’s Earth Institute from 2002 to 2016, to ask if he accepted funding from the Chinese government, he replied, “I have no funding from the Chinese government. None at the Center, and none of my projects when I was director of the Earth Institute. Of the approximately 850 staff of more than 25 centers at the Earth Institute, I do not know.”

In 2018, Sachs wrote the foreword to a policy position paper, used for lobbying regulators and policymakers, by telecommunications giant Huawei, and shortly after penned a column urging the Trump administration to back off efforts to restrict the Chinese company.

On Twitter, Sachs wrote, “I respect Huawei’s technologies, its vision of ICT for development, and the many benefits of Huawei technologies for sustainable development. I was not and am not paid by Huawei.” Then, 13 days later, after being criticized for his involvement with Huawei, Sachs deleted his Twitter account.

The Chinese government claims that it is fighting terrorism in Xinjiang, an argument Sachs repeated.

Some Democrats recognize that China’s treatment of the Uyghurs is a problem for solar. “We know we have solar supply chain issues,” said Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) at a Senate hearing last month.

But, noted Bloomberg, “Biden can’t just flip a switch to make the problem go away. Instead, his team may have to come up with a phased strategy to address the issue,” and that would take years to implement.

And even if China were to move all its solar panel production out of Xanjiang, China’s genocide would continue. “Episodes of forced labor have also been reported in Chinese facilities outside Xinjiang,” notes the New York Times.

So Much for “Never Again”

CNN reported last year that China is torturing many of the two million Muslim that are being held in concentration camps in Xinjiang. Like reporters from Vice and Bloomberg, CNN reporters were constantly followed and harassed by secret Chinese police, including demands for identification at 1 am in the reporter’s hotel room.

“It’s nearly impossible to freely report on the hundreds of thousands of people that are likely languishing in camps right now,” the CNN correspondent repeated. “And that means that the rest of the world can't really see what's going on there.”

China’s genocide is high-tech, reports CNN, and global. The government uses facial recognition, GPS tracking devices, and collecting DNA samples from all residents between 12 and 65 years old. The Chinese government is even harassing Chinese nationals in other countries around the world.

Like other researchers and journalists who have been to Xinjiang, the CNN reporter became emotional and spoke in very strong language about the situation. “This is one of the biggest human rights stories on earth. And as we saw firsthand, China is actively trying to cover it up.”

For decades, Hollywood’s leading lights, Harvard professors, and environmentalists have defended the rights of oppressed racial and religious minorities, including Muslims, and promised “never again” in the context of genocide.

And yet all three institutions — Hollywood and the entertainment industry, Harvard and other academic institutions, and environmental groups — have sacrificed “never again,” and concerns about genocide for money, access, and power.

Columbia University reported none of the money it received for “The Confucius Institute” to the US Education Department, which “is part of a network of chapters believed to be quietly undermining academic freedom on campuses across America,” writes a Columbia graduate student.

“Confucius instructors, hired and trained by Beijing, have always banned certain topics” including “Xinjiang, where up to 2 million Uyghur Muslims languish in concentration camps.”

Sachs, for his part, criticizes the researchers who allege genocide. “The genocide charge is being fueled by ‘studies’ like the Newlines Institute report,” he says, which has “an apparently conservative policy agenda.” Sachs makes no mention of any financial conflict of interest.

--Michael Shellenberger





BRAND New Bikernet Reader Comment!
Cantina Episode 93: 1VEGAS

https://www.bikernet.com/pages/Cantina_Episode_93_1VEGAS.aspx

Good for Bandit! He acquired another great knife to add to his collection! Will Melody be the real deal, or will she become just another redhead in Bandit's collection?

--Ann Robinson
Long Beach, Califa







TEXAS WEATHER REPORT--I had hoped to get a visit in today, found out he was on hospice last Sunday at the benefit. Lately I seem to be one Saturday too late, happened with an uncle as well. For some reason I waited to ride the Shovelhead over there as it was finally running.



That young lady Ms Amanda was only the 10th person to ever have the surgery she had on Monday, she is still in the hospital.



So last year I was able to contact a member of Lindsey Stirling’s management and was approved that day, I think. This year I haven’t heard back, yet. Going for my sixth consecutive tour, which started with Bikernet in 2012.

--RFR
Rock Star Journalist
Bikernet.com





NEWS FROM THE TWISTED ROAD-- One, Two, Free. It's that easy.

Well, it happened. We've finally lost our minds and have decided to give away more free riding days. To everyone. Starting now. For free.

How does this work? Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy. Rent twice and we will give you a free day.

Really? Yes. Really.

Does it cost anything to join? No. That's what "for free" means.

What's the catch? There isn't one.

How do I learn more? Click here.

Boom (drops mic).

- Austin







NMA CALLS FOR MORE HANDS ON DECK--

This grassroots campaign is focused on convincing the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that key components of its planned update to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) will make the roads less, not more, safe and significantly less drivable. That latter part seems intentional.

Over 90 percent, nearly 200, of the comments added to the public record for the proposed FHWA rule change in the few days since the NMA alert was issued have been in opposition to the agency’s recommendation to minimize the importance of data analysis in setting proper speed limits. You can read those comments, and add your own if you haven’t already, here. Responses are accepted until May 14th.

The same response rate is needed now to address another alarming aspect of the proposed changes to the MUTCD: How and when all-way stop signs are used.

Where the current requirement is to post all-way stops by exception and only with justification by data analysis, the new FHWA guidelines to local traffic engineers would be to add all-way stop signs at intersections if the mere presence of pedestrians or bicyclists is anticipated.

This NMA April 20th alert explains how the new rules could lead to a proliferation of disruptive, all-way stops instead of two-way stops or yield signs at non-signalized intersections. Environmentalists should be at the front of the line objecting to the rule change that would cause tens of millions of cars to stop and reaccelerate needlessly many times daily, burning more fuel and generating more carbon emissions.

Chris DiPrima, NMA Board Members, posted this comment on the docket for the proposed rule:

“Regarding stop sign guidance under Section 2B of the proposed MUTCD: On safety grounds, I oppose any weakening of the engineering standards regarding the implementation of stop signs.

“I live in San Francisco, a city where almost every neighborhood street is controlled by a 4-way stop. All that this has done is lead to widespread disobedience of stop signs because one can be reasonably certain that 99% of stop signs will have neither crossing vehicles nor crossing pedestrians. It also leads to no end of frustration for drivers and cyclists alike (since cyclists generally ignore unnecessary stop signs). Implementing more unnecessary stop signs will only increase disrespect for stop signs.

“Removing the requirement to conduct traffic studies means that stop signs without justification will become even more prevalent. People will decide to travel via residential streets rather than keeping onto the collector and arterial streets which have been designed to handle through traffic.

“The MUTCD should require (“must”) municipalities to conduct engineering analyses before implementing new traffic signals.”

Others have added similar sentiments on the record after the latest NMA alert was published. But just as with the speed limit issue, it is going to take a large volume of personalized responses to sway the FHWA from its mission of subjugating drivers to pedestrians and bicyclists in a misguided attempt to improve safety for all.

Here, again, is the link to the site where your comments to any or all of the FHWA-proposed changes to the MUTCD can be posted. Click the blue “Comments” button and let the government agency know what you think about its plans to change speed limit and stop sign requirements.



Not an NMA Member yet?
Join today and get these great benefits!






The PAN-AMERICAN could be yours!

There are 250 tickets, and one prize. The Pan-American.

You get one raffle ticket with each purchase of a Sacred Panhead sticker, $100 each.
1979 Harley-Davidson frame with clear title
S&S P93 93" Panhead Engine
Baker 6 Speed Transmission
W&W Cannonball Wheels
ALL the best quality and performance parts available!
Includes shipping to the winner's door in the lower 48 states. Drawing takes place live on June 1st, 2021.







CONNECTICUT HELMET LAW UPDATE--
Editors Note: This just sent to me about Connecticut Bikers make sure the Mandatory Helmet Law that we Beat back in 1976.--Rogue

We finally did it made sure that Connecticut stays the way it is-- let those who ride still decide if they want to wear a helmet. The helmet law was repealed in 1976 in Connecticut, and they tried to bring it back this year and it was voted against thank you for keeping part of Connecticut free and thank you to John Rogue.

For information on the Original Helmet law repeal (in the best year in the world) 1976 in Connecticut back when Rogue was part of a legendary mc along with pappy and a whole lot of what I like to refer to as legendary and original men.

My father was also one of these men as well as my wife's father so thank you to all of you who helped out with this the original helmet repeal and the 2021 vote out that is giving us some freedom in a state/world that we slowly lose more of everyday.

--Jr. Paul

http://www.bikerrogue.com/Articles/Biker_Rights/Meet_Pappy.htm






BIKERNET’S WORLD WIDE WEATHER DOOM WEEKLY REPORT--Ya know, there is nothing worse than a runaway ice melt. The melting of ice has been shown in studies to cause coronavirus. Runaway ice melts have been shown to increase Chinese bat populations which in turn cause wet-market drainage into the melting ice creating pandemics for which there are no vaccines, but for which there will be in two weeks causing more cases unless we all slow the melt.

Meltage modellings show that with the use of charts and graphs the meltage of the pandemic protocols can in fact according to sources, reports and pancreatic cancer readouts influence concomitant future parameters. This is science.

Please stop doing things, stay inside, wear a mask, turn around in a circle three times, face the holy city beneath Zanzibar and remember, global weather, global health, global prosperity, and global happiness of the Sixth Circle of the Lotus Mysteries of Queen Hupsetsut are ours to claim if we all just obey the Paris Accordions.

Thank you.

--J.J. Solari
Chief Weather Strategist
Bikernet University
Nepal





LIFESTYLE CYCLES DEAL OF THE WEEK--2016 Harley-Davidson® FLTRXS - Road Glide® Special for $19,995.00
SEE IT HERE: https://www.lifestylecycles.com/default.asp?page=xPreOwnedInventoryDetail&id=10033345

This bike is Super clean Road Glide



ONLY 20262.00 Miles !!!!!

2016 Blue Harley-Davidson ROAD GLIDE SPECIAL TOURING FLTRXS



Some of the features/Add-on's on this bike

* 103 c.i. Motor
* 6-Speed trans
* 16 inch Apes
* Avon grips
* Vance & Hince exhaust
* Highway pegs



This bike has passed Lifestyle Cycles rigorous 101 point safety and mechanical inspection. Whether your looking to commute to work, ride the coast or take that dream vacation, this bike is ready to go!!!

EZ FINANCING-SHIPPING AVAILABLE!!!

Fill out an online application and ride today!!!

**Open 7 days a week**

Just $19,995.00 at Lifestyle Cycles (714) 490-0155






OUR PETS ARE DOOMED--
Climate activists now trying to cancel pets! Pet Police have arrived: ‘Expert suggested reducing rate of dog & cat ownership in favor of other animals’ to reduce ‘pets’ carbon footprint’ – Equal to emissions of 13 million cars!

VOX mag goes full pet police, asks: "Are our pets gobbling up the planet?": Gregory Okin, a Professor in the Departments of Geography and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability: "Reducing the rate of dog and cat ownership, perhaps in favor of other pets that offer similar health and emotional benefits, would considerably reduce these impacts."

"Proper poop disposal is important. Okin found that pet poop is equivalent to the annual trash of 6.6 million humans." That's more trash than Maryland produces!

--Climate Depot








QUICK OPEN BANDIT’S CANTINA BAD JOKE LIBRARY-- Me: Would you like to be the sun in my life?


Her: Awww... Yes!!!


Me: Good then stay 92.96 million miles away from me

--Juzaboy

Why are frogs always so happy? They eat what ever bugs them

--London Pro
Laughfactory.com

Some guy called me a tool. So I got hammered and nailed his girlfriend. Guess he was right.

--Funnydude
Laughfactory.com








FINALLY, They Admit Renewables Are Terrible For The Environment--New research from Princeton University and Bloomberg confirms that renewables require 300 - 400 times more land than natural gas and nuclear plants

Over the last few years, I have been pushing back against the idea that renewables are good for the environment. In 2019 I published, “Why Renewables Can’t Save the Planet,” which was the most-read article of the year at Quillette, and gave a TEDx talk by the same name, which today has 2.5 million views. And last year, in Apocalypse Never, I pointed out that wind and solar projects require 300 to 400 times more land than nuclear or natural gas plants, and that 100% renewables would require increasing land used for energy from 0.5% today to 25% to 50%.

Needless to say, the renewable energy industry and its boosters haven’t liked what I’ve written, and have sought to cancel me. Last year, a group of activist scientists denounced me as factually wrong, and demanded that I be censored by Facebook. They drew on junk science to claim that solar required just 3.6 times more land and wind just 5.8 times more than nuclear and natural gas plants. In response, Facebook censored me and denied me the right to appeal their verdict.

But now researchers at Princeton University and Bloomberg News have admitted that I was right, and my critics were wrong. They have just published research showing that wind farms require 370 times more land than nuclear plants, and that shifting away from nuclear and toward renewables, as Biden’s climate plan would do, would have a devastating impact on America’s natural environments.

“A 200-megawatt wind farm,” notes Bloomberg, “might require spreading turbines over 19 square miles (49 square kilometres). A natural-gas power plant with that same generating capacity could fit onto a single city block.”

Everyone agrees that we can increase, to some extent, the amount of electricity from solar panels and wind turbines. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, whose mission is to promote renewables, claims 74% of California’s electricity could come from solar panels. Princeton estimates that 11% of electricity could come from offshore wind projects by 2050.



But after generating just 23% of its electricity from solar panels, California is suffering from blackouts and price spikes stemming from over-dependence on weather-dependent energies. Imagine what tripling solar production would do.

And it’s highly unlikely that the U.S. will add anything close to that amount of off-shore wind. Today, there are total of just seven off-shore wind turbines. Generating 11% of our electricity from them would require building 20,000 of them. And that’s unlikely to happen given widespread opposition from conservationists, fisherfolk, and local residents.



The U.S. would need to triple the amount of transmission lines, according to Princeton researchers, under a high-renewables future. But new transmission lines are being successfully opposed by a grassroots conservationists worried about whooping cranes and other endangered species. The same thing has occurred in renewables-heavy Germany.

Notes Bloomberg, “in 2011, former President Barack Obama created the Rapid Response Team for Transmission to speed the permitting of five Western transmission line projects. Only one is under construction so far. Three still face permitting delays. The fifth was canceled.”

The better alternative, Bloomberg notes, from an environmental point of view, is to build a lot of nuclear power plants, and use carbon capture and storage. “If the U.S. wants a carbon-free economy by 2050 using the least amount of land, it will need to rely far less on wind and solar and instead build hundreds of nuclear plants and natural gas plants outfitted with systems to capture the carbon dioxide before it escapes into the atmosphere.”

Bloomberg correctly notes that “Biden’s plan doesn’t need to entirely rest on wind and solar. Nuclear energy, which requires far less space, is also emission free.” But in its current form, Biden’s plan would result in the loss of half of America’s nuclear power plants between now and 2030, which would nearly wipe out nearly all of the electricity Princeton researchers say could be generated by off-shore wind.

Despite repeated appeals by Environmental Progress and the world’s leading environmental scientists, Congressional Democrats have rejected proposals to even modestly level the playing field by offering nuclear plants a fraction of the subsidies Congress has been giving solar and wind.

Anti-nuclear Democrats in Congress demanding 100% renewables have the strong support from progressives in the news media. “Unlike fossil fuels — which get more expensive as we pull more of them from the ground, because extracting a dwindling resource requires more and more work — renewable energy is based on technologies that get cheaper as we make more,” claimed New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo last week.



But fossil fuels have become cheaper over the centuries and decades, not more expensive. In fact, the biggest story in energy over the last decade has been the declining cost of natural gas from fracking, which is the main reason the U.S. reduced its carbon emissions more than any other nation in history. For years researchers have calculated that the fracking revolution resulted in $100 billion being added to the U.S. economy every year in the form of lower energy prices.

And every serious student of technology knows that declining cost of producing energy is one of the largest factors driving economic growth. Fewer people are required to produce energy, which allows us to do different things.

--Michael Shellenberger