Although the economies of developed nations are expected to be, on average, 50 percent larger in 2035 than in 2005, energy demand is expected to be slightly lower because of efficiencies. Recently, Tillerson says, “more than half the growth in demand has been met by efficiencies” driven by higher prices.

Today, however, “we’ve got the entire country in a crouched position.” He is not. He is temperamentally percussive, as befits someone who, as a University of Texas undergraduate, manned the bass drum in the Longhorn Band. Ethanol? A monument to “the power of the farm lobby.” The Chevy Volt, the $41,000 four-passenger electric car with a tax credit of up to $7,500 to bribe people to buy it? “That’s your government at work.” ExxonMobil at work includes labs doing research on algae-based biomass fuels.