Thank you for this enjoyable and thought-provoking piece. I wish I could share your optimism about shifting away from dependence on fire by electrifying everything, but one huge problem prevents me from doing so: such a massive transition to renewable electric power would require a vast build-out of renewable infrastructure: windmills, solar arrays, hydro dams, geothermal systems, storage batteries, et al. And building such an infrastructure would require a huge input of available and easily transportable net energy. You cannot build a solar array from solar power, nor can you build windmills using wind power. And you cannot blow up mountains in search of the rare earth minerals for storage batteries without powerful explosives (another form of fire). So the only available source of this net energy is...burning even more fossil fuels.

So our only possible alternative that I see to fossil fuel dependency--hence to the self-accelerating overheating of our planet that wipes us all out-- is massive downsizing and relocalization of our energy sources and infrastructure, our food and water supplies, our commerce and industry, along with a revitalization of community at the local level. (Permaculture in a nutshell). Perhaps a blend of technological innovation with relocalization would do the trick...