Independent

 There was an argument made a while back about how driving an electric car wasn't really solving any problems because the electricity needed to make the car move was still coming from some coal burning power plant just up the road. It was, at best, a sum zero equation. All the more reason to keep pushing that envelope until everyone has an electric car and solar panels to generate the go-volts needed. 

My wife and I were more than a little chagrined to discover that the company that had done such a great job putting us squarely on the path to energy independence, Solar City, was owned by cousins of (checks notes) an Elon Musk, who "generously" relieved the financial stress that company was feeling by absorbing it into the Tesla Borg. Back in 2016, this felt more like a customer service issue since we had become familiar with our Solar City rep and were able to call him up to ask questions or request support when we needed it. Suddenly we were tossed into a Tesla bin that required us to run a gauntlet of "help" that was geared primarily toward getting us to purchase an electric car. A Tesla. Surprise, surprise. 

Fast forward a couple of elections and we found ourselves confronted with the "new and improved" (checks notes) Elon Musk, "presidential pal." Suddenly all the forbearance we had been willing to extend to the nominal supplier of our widow to the sun was all but blotted out by the insane rantings of the first and "best" oligarchy bro. Fortunately for us, by this point we had become familiar with the vagaries of our system, and the last vestiges of our relationship was the loan we had almost paid off to another financial institution and the annoying logo attached to the app that monitors our solar capacity. 

Just before the inauguration of the Second Trumpreich, we bought our electric car. In that tiny window between the future and the past brought on by the backward facing MAGAts, we received a generous rebate from the government to make the deal even better. We were a sustainable household with the somewhat regrettable exception of our gas furnace. 

Incentives were swallowed up by the climate deniers and the fossil fuel lobbies. We were subjected to rants about the evils of windmills and the inability of solar energy to work at night. We watched as the progress we had made was being swallowed up behind us. We waited for ICE to show up and throw us into detention for not using enough gasoline. 

The future is still out there. The rest of the world continues to move forward into it. China has lead the way, with solar now becoming cheaper than coal, and the price of solar panels and installation is creating jobs and helping grow their economy. The world, outside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, is looking to follow that model. 

Meanwhile, Elon (checks notes) has recently purchased billions of his own company's stock, creating the illusion of value in the wake of the past year's hijinks. All of which brings to mind one of my favorite Bruce Springsteen quotes: Nobody wins unless everybody wins. I'm not guessing (checks notes) Elon Musk is a big fan of The Boss. 

The real Boss.