What if we could make energy do our work without working our undoing?

Lovins’ question frames energy as a servant whose benefits can become self-destructive if pursued carelessly. It points to the modern dilemma that the same systems that power prosperity—fossil fuels, inefficient technologies, and wasteful consumption—can also “work our undoing” through pollution, climate change, geopolitical vulnerability, and economic fragility. The phrasing invites a redesign mindset: instead of accepting harmful tradeoffs as inevitable, we can seek ways to deliver energy services (mobility, comfort, light, industrial output) with far less energy and far fewer side effects. It aligns with Lovins’ long-standing emphasis on efficiency, renewables, and integrative design as routes to prosperity without ecological or social collapse.