Elon Musk: “We Must Transition to Sustainable Energy Now to Avoid a Calamity by Century’s End”

Elon Musk: We must transition to sustainable energy now in order to avoid a calamity towards the end of the century.

“My initial interest in sustainable energy production and consumption was actually not driven from an environmental standpoint, although I do think there are environmental consequences, but rather from the importance of the continuance of human civilization. We would face a disaster if we do not find some alternate means to power society and travel.

Although the scarcity issue will only become really serious maybe towards the end of the century, because of the enormous industrial base of power generation and transport, it will take decades to transform that to a sustainable system. So we must take action now in order to avoid a calamity towards the end of the century. I think sustainable production, consumption of energy is the most important terrestrial problem that we face in the 21st century.”

Montana Job Summit, September 16, 2013