Did you know that Satoshi already responded to the U.S. Department of Energy's concerns about Bitcoin's electricity use... in 2010?
In response to a post by gridecon, which reads in part: "I believe that the amount of energy input required to the bitcoin economy represents a serious obstacle to its growth."
Satoshi ⚡️ responded:
It’s the same situation as gold and gold mining. The marginal cost of gold mining tends to stay near the price of gold. Gold mining is a waste, but that waste is far less than the utility of having gold available as a medium of exchange. I think the case will be the same for Bitcoin. The utility of the exchanges made possible by Bitcoin will far exceed the cost of electricity used. Therefore, not having Bitcoin would be the net waste.
In other words, Satoshi said that Bitcoin is so useful to the economy that it would be more wasteful not to direct our electrical resources at it... 🧐