There is no such thing as a free lunch

This was how my college professor explained the Conservation of Energy law of nature. Simply put, energy can be neither created nor destroyed, it can only change form. Why do I bring this up? We've gone through the car show season and, between that, and the renewed talk about electric cars I have to ask; where is the electricity for these cars going to come from?

Our new administration wants to stop coal fired power plants and it won't allow new nuclear power plants. Solar and wind are their alternatives but it'll be years before they contribute significantly to the power grid. So, when we plug in our fancy new electric cars, where's the power going to come from? No one wants to bring up this inconvenient truth. And I haven't even mentioned the future of all those batteries or the energy required to make them.

Again, I am all for alternative energy sources. However if they need to be subsidized by the government then they are not yet viable. And, more importantly, the energy discussion must be comprehensive and not based on the populist notion of the moment. We need to stop being so reactive in this country and have thorough discussion based on sound reasoning.

Otherwise we'll end up having our lunch money stolen by the bully.