A 30s style economic depression will do more damage to the environment than increased energy capacity. However IMO the environment ceased to be reason many years ago and became the excuse.
Control over energy means control over people. Power. There will never be an environmentally acceptable energy source in mbutt use. The reason is once any source makes market gains the environmentalist movement (which is a political movement that is concerned with control, power, and money like all the rest) will oppose it.
For decades we heard about how wind power is great for the environmennt, how we should be using it, etc etc. Now that it is feasible, now that it's making money, now that companies want to build more wind farms, now that farmers are enjoying the income from leasing small portions of their land for the turbines, the objections came out. The lawsuits to stop it, etc and so forth.
As I've stated before, the Kyoto treaty and the environmental damage it encourages is just the biggest piece of proof out there. Also are the nonsenical regulation in the USA that encouraged power companies to never moderize the coal plants but keep the old equipment running forever.
