We can always hope...

I don't think the clean energy sector will ever have the grip coal and oil have on government--particularly the clout to sell outright lies as truth to vast swaths of the country.

To support its agenda, oil wealth has long funded conservative politics. The industry, especially the fiercely anti-government independent producers who emerged in Texas in the 1930s, provided gushers of money--first to oil-patch Democrats like Lyndon Johnson and Robert Kerr, and later to Republican politicians and conservative campaigns considerably to the right of those men. Through the late 20th century, oil titans like H.L. Hunt, Hugh Roy Cullen, and the Koch family provided huge sums to causes that ranged from uncompromisingly conservative to crackpot paranoid. Even now, the oil and gas industry remains a bedrock source of funding for Republicans: From 1990 through early this year, the industry contributed $241 million to federal campaigns, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Three-fourths of that money went to Republicans.

Compared with the oil and gas supertanker, the clean energy industry today is a dinghy, minuscule in its contributions to national energy needs and campaign treasuries. But the industry is poised to grow, as concern about climate change prompts reduced reliance on fossil fuels. The federal Energy Information Administration, for instance, recently projected that if the U.S. approves legislation capping carbon emissions, renewable sources should provide between one-third and two-thirds of all new electrical-generation capacity built through 2030.

But green energy is energy and energy is vital. And like the pharaohs long ago, someone will always want to have their hand on the valve.