how to keep the lights on?

great picture of the earth at night, eh. look at all those lights on. not sure exactly how this picture is constructed, given the different time zones and hemispheres....
but where does the power come from? well, various national grids and then down the power lines to our homes and offices and factories and farms and....just flick a switch and, magic, the darkness is gone!
its not been like this for most of the world's history. in fact, its just a blink in time from the beginning of humanity, let alone the world itself.
so, how much longer will it be like this? where will the power keep coming from? who will generate the extra as more developing countries come on stream, and how will it be generated? simple questions, granted, but very real nonetheless. those questions include macro issues like international treaties on energy security, and micro issues like personal home power production.
george monbiot has some interesting thoughts on the latter here. he thinks small is useless, and he may well be right in this instance. but i'm not sure that its a good, helpful, and right mantra to say that 'small is useless'. and i dare say that george is not saying that small is useless in an overall kind of way.
but give people an option to say that its all too hard and that its got nothing to do with them and i'm only one person so what can i do and its all the government's responsibility anyway and i'm just going to leave the lights on coz i can, and they will.
i do think this is an area where government can set a standard and say something like, 'by 2010 there will be no more manufacturing of ordinary, energy inefficient lightbulbs'. it can't be that difficult actually. but it does require a will to act. as bono as often said, we can't do everything, but the things we can we must.
there'll be a way to keep the lights on, and a small way can begin with a small individual acting out of a strong will to proactively do the things they can. have a look at the ban the bulb website that gives lots of info and plenty of links for more info including where to buy energy efficient lightbulbs. not to mention the generous website where you can join with others in making a measurable, sustainable, and cybercultural difference to god's good earth.