[PaulDavisThe1st]

We don't disagree on that. We differ on what is critical.

Clearly energy is critical for food production and drying lumber.

But is gas critical? Well, gas is currently being used for those purposes, and if the gas stopped being available ... the effects would all differ based on the timeline for that.

If the gas stopped overnight, sure, "the food stops".

If the gas is announced as stopping over 5 or 10 years, the food will never stop.

The difference there is not that "gas is critical", it's that "replacing gas will/would take time, and we can't do it immediately". Anything that stops the flow of energy to these processes will screw them up, but an ordered transition from energy source A to energy source B will not do that. Ergo, I conclude that it is not energy source A (gas) that is "critical", but rather energy supply and its orderly and intelligent management and planning.