>> Atom & renewable sources. 256x256 km of solar panels is enough for whole world.
>> Electric tractors. Should have been here decades ago.
> Those sound like great ideas. How about we roll them out first,
> and only stop using fossil fuels once they're able to totally
> replace them with no downside
All these things are already here. Nuclear power is nothing new, renewable methods of generating energy are growing fast, and electric tractors are already on the market.
How expensive they are and how fast they are common does not depend only on the market, but also on the policies we have.
There are subsidies and policies in place to protect the status quo. Without demolishing the existing barriers of entry no progres can be made.
If we accept "cheap" energy from coal plans as standard, and wait for new miraculous technology to compete with subsidized coal energy on price, without any support, it simply won't (and didn't) happen.
But say you'll phase out coal plans, and almost miraculously the effort materializes and is redirected to new areas and new solutions are found.
Wait for it to happen on it's own, and only thing you'll get is cancer from the soot and scorched earth.