[Someone]

_If_, as stipulated, fusion energy will become as good as free, people will switch away from coal not because of the environment, but because it’s cheaper. That doesn’t require a shift in world view.

On the other hand, we would really need that shift in world view. Without it, global warming would be avoided, but I fear we would destroy the world even faster than we do now.

Free energy makes anything produced automatically free. That means we could afford more disposable junk, more and bigger houses, more and bigger cars, likely even flying ones, with many flying supersonic.

Increased mobility would mean less pristine wilderness (if energy is free, any group of people could afford to do a mini burning man anywhere in the States)

Also, we would also scrape the ocean floor for minerals, destroying the ocean.

Finally, I am more cynical w.r.t. poverty. We already could have solved it, but didn’t. Why would that change?

[hluska]

In my province's system, you would still need political will to build a fusion plant. That would require some serious political will, since it would dramatically change a very wealthy/highly conservative city's economy. That type of political will would tend to come out of a longer term, more global point of view.