ABSTRACT
The United States will have completed an epochal historical transition from a society based on depletable, fossil energy to one based predominantly on sustainable, virtually inexhaustible energy. The coming transition to sustainable energy will entail far more sweeping changes than simply the shift from one energy source to another. The inevitability of the transition to sustainable energy is cognate to the impending depletion of oil and gas resources. The three major candidates for the principal, sustainable energy source are fusion, advanced nuclear fission, and solar energy, probably combined with some use of geothermal energy. The observation that the coming energy transition will be marked by intense social conflict may not seem particularly surprising. The expression of conflict so far has been largely rhetorical and political, and the degree of conflict has been fairly demure and peaceful. The conflict between hard and soft paradigms itself poses a paradox, or more precisely, a dilemma.
