> Did you know that coal plants, which still make up the majority of U.S. energy production, are only about twice as efficient today than they were a century ag

> Did you know that coal plants, which still make up the majority of U.S. energy production, are only about twice as efficient today than they were a century ago? There are certainly two ways of looking at that. The way I read your sentence it sounds very pessimistic. On the other hand, I look at that and say that over 100 year's we've managed to extract twice as much usable energy out of a pound of coal, through a variety of incremental improvements to what is fundamentally the same technology; and the world is a better place for it.