Energy is a prime factor in environmental quality. Extraction, processing, shipping, and combustion of coal, oil, and natural gas are the largest sources of air pollutants, thermal and chemical pollution of surface waters, accumulation of mine tailings and toxic ash, and land degradation caused by surface mining in the United States.

On the other hand, a cheap, inexhaustible source of energy would allow us people to eliminate or repair much of the environmental damage done already and to improve the quality of the environment in many ways. Often, the main barrier to reclaiming degraded land, cleaning up polluted water, destroying wastes, restoring damaged ecosystems, or remedying most other environmental problems is that solutions are expensive—and much of that expense is energy costs. Given a clean, sustainable, environmentally benign energy source, people could create a true utopia and extend its benefits to...