Think it’s meant more as a broad generalization than something that is always true.
Many physical things take pretty fixed amounts of energy. Eg heating a liter of water.
Many physical things take pretty fixed amounts of energy. Eg heating a liter of water.
I think you're right, but also that the majority of the problems with the worlds economies (in the richer nations) are because of similar generalizations, and as such I think it important to rebuke them.
Having more cheap energy available is good (all else being equal), but optimising for higher energy usage is absurd.
It's overseas owners are constantly playing hardball with the country over the price they pay. Feels like every year they threaten to shut the smelter down unless they get better electricity rates.
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiwai_Point_Aluminium_Smelte...