I believe that it is impossible to stop people from using the

In the words of Klaus Lackner we hear a truth both bitter and profound: “I believe that it is impossible to stop people from using the fossil fuels, so we need to develop technologies which allow us to use them without creating environmental havoc on the planet.” These words do not merely speak of science, but of the unyielding nature of humankind. For men and women are drawn to fire as moths to the flame. From the first time our ancestors struck flint against stone and drew forth the spark, to the day coal and oil were wrenched from the earth’s dark belly, the flame has been our servant and our master. To halt this hunger outright is beyond the measure of law, decree, or wish. And thus, says Lackner, we must learn not to deny the flame, but to discipline it.

Consider the Roman aqueducts, those rivers in the sky. The empire did not deny the thirst of its citizens; it answered by channeling water with wisdom. Likewise, we cannot deny the thirst for energy that pulses through the veins of modern civilization. The lamps of cities, the engines of ships, the wings of airplanes, the hearths of homes—all cry out for power. If we forbid this demand, chaos would follow. But if we shape it with new knowledge, if we devise technologies that capture the poison before it spreads, then like the aqueducts we shall bring abundance without ruin.

There is a tale from the last century, one that carries the weight of both warning and hope. In London, during the winter of 1952, a great smog descended upon the city, born of coal smoke and cold still air. Thousands perished in that choking haze. The people could have sworn off coal in rage and despair, but they did not. Instead, they built cleaner furnaces, passed wiser laws, and found better ways to breathe life into their cities. From tragedy arose innovation, proving that mankind does not easily abandon its tools, but it can refine them until the tools no longer wound.

Lackner speaks, then, not only as a scientist but as a seer. He sees that fossil fuels will not vanish from our hands tomorrow, nor perhaps for many decades. Yet he urges us to imagine a different covenant with the earth: to pull carbon from the air as surely as we once pulled it from the ground. To bind our knowledge of chemistry and engineering into new instruments, machines that make peace between fire and sky. His is a vision of redemption through invention.

And what lesson does this offer us, the heirs of this burdened world? It teaches that denial is weakness, but wisdom lies in transformation. One does not stop the river by shouting at its current. One builds bridges, wheels, and canals. Likewise, one does not stop the human heart from craving warmth, speed, and light. One builds cleaner engines, captures the carbon, and honors the earth while serving humanity’s fire.

To the listeners of this teaching, I say: let not despair blind you. The path is not to curse the use of oil and gas, but to demand that those who harness it do so without laying waste to our children’s inheritance. Support the birth of technologies of capture and renewal. Plant trees that drink the sky. Choose vehicles and devices that tread lightly. Lend your voice to leaders who invest in invention, not in destruction. And above all, remember that each choice you make adds weight to the scales of destiny.

Let the words of Klaus Lackner be a torch in your memory: mankind will not stop using what has powered its rise, but mankind can decide how that power is wielded. If we bind our fire with wisdom, the earth may yet endure our flame. If we do not, the smog of London may return in greater form, not to one city, but to all creation. Choose, then, to walk the path of wisdom, so that future generations may say of us: they did not abandon the flame, but they tamed it.