In this early days of 2025, let me speak plainly about the great challenge before us: energy.
Energy is not merely the fuel for our machines; it is the engine of human progress, the foundation upon which every leap forward has been built. And yet, we are told, with troubling regularity, that we must shrink our ambitions, ration our dreams, and settle for less. Sobriety, they say, is the order of the day.
Humanity did not ascend from the caves by dimming the fire. We built brighter flames. We did not forge steel, light cities, and traverse oceans by apologizing for our needs; we met those needs with ingenuity, effort, and ambition. Energy abundance has always been the key to our success as a species. It has lifted billions out of poverty, extended life expectancies, and created the technologies that allow us to connect, cure, and create.
To those who demand austerity in energy, I ask: what future do you envision? A future of limitations? A future where we deny our children the lights of a brighter tomorrow because we were too timid to build it? No, we must reject this narrative of scarcity and embrace one of abundance.
The way forward is clear. We must produce more energy—cleaner, yes, but above all, more. Let us unleash the full potential of nuclear power, harness the vastness of wind and solar, and continue innovating to make fossil fuels cleaner where they are still needed. Let us build the infrastructure, invest in research, and incentivize the ingenuity that will make energy as abundant and accessible as air itself.
Because when energy is abundant, everything else becomes possible. Industries thrive. Innovation soars. Societies grow wealthier and healthier. Abundance does not breed complacency. It breeds opportunity. It is the soil in which the seeds of progress grow.
So, let us reject the mantra of “less.” Let us choose instead to do more. More energy, more ambition, more progress. Let us light up this century and beyond with the brilliance of human ingenuity, refusing to settle for anything less than a future where abundance is not a luxury but a birthright.
The choice is ours. Let’s make it boldly.