Energy Use for the Sake of Using Energy

You know how to know if energy is priced too cheaply? When we use it just because we can, not for any particular reason. It is why so many don't bother turning off lights when not in a room... is it really worth getting up and walking across the room to save a penny in a month? Probably not. Of course, over time, it adds up to nickels, dimes, and eventually even tens of dollars over the course of the month. But it just isn't much.

I enjoyed this very short article by a great thinker (from Canadia, no less), Vaclav Smil:

Energy use is merely a means to many rewarding ends: economic security, education, health. The United States consumes nearly twice as much energy per capita as the richest countries of the European Union, which raises the question: What has it gotten in return? Are Americans twice as rich as the French? Are they twice as educated as the Germans? Do they live twice as long as the Swedes? Are they twice as happy as the Danes or twice as safe as the Dutch? The obvious answer for all of the above is no; indeed, many of America's quality-of-life indicators -- including infant mortality, longevity, and educational achievement -- do not even rank among the world's top 10!