Lovins is one of those rare people who have spent his entire adult life studying one thing – in this case “energy.” As far back as his first year of college, before the oil embargo of the 1970’s, he’s thrown himself into the field.

In this interview with Charlie Rose, Lovins frankly discusses where we are now, how we got here, and what we can do. It’s well worth a listen even if you’re already familiar with Lovins and his work.

What are some of the heretical messages Lovins endorses?

• Consume energy much more efficiently through mass adoption of electric vehicles
• Get the United States off of oil completely by 2050
• Eliminate the emissions of climate changing gases
• Decentralize energy generation, making our energy infrastructure much less brittle
• Do all this while saving money

His messages are so powerful and sensible that it’s amazing that we haven’t implemented them on a wide scale. Unfortunately, various forces representing the status quo have blocked them at every opportunity. But Lovins doesn’t give up. His Rocky Mountain Institute pushes ahead.