We live in a world transformed by big tech and exponential advances in computing. It is no surprise that we hope that this pattern can be achieved with an energy transition as anxieties mount about the implications of climate change. Unfortunately, magical thinking leaves us far from deep decarbonization and brings with it some staggering implications when it comes to resource extraction and the waste stream of a dilute and intermittent energy source.

Mark P. Mills is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a faculty fellow at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, where he co-directs an Institute on Manufacturing Science and Innovation.