Recently, word came out about something that has not happened in over a century: The United States is no longer the world’s largest energy consumer. That, held by the U.S. since at least the first decade of the 20th century, now goes to China, which used a total of 2.25 billion tons of oil equivalent energy in 2009. The U.S. used 2.17 billion tons, according to the International Energy Agency. In the time the U.S. has been the predominant energy consumer, U.S. Gross National Product (GNP) grew from $737 billion (all figures are in today’s dollars) to $14.7 trillion...