Among scores of examples from contemporary media stories, a recent and fawning report in The New York Times stands out for its shameless puffery in this regard. Optimistically titled “The Clean Energy Future Is Arriving Faster Than You Think,” the article hoardes attention with more than 3,000 words written by the four reporters crowding its byline. A little more than halfway in, we come upon the inevitable (emphasis added throughout):

“But clean energy became cheap far faster than anyone expected. Since 2009, the cost of solar power has plunged by 83 percent, while the cost of producing wind power has fallen by more than half. The price of lithium-ion battery cells fell 97 percent over the past three decades.

Today, solar and wind power are the least expensive new sources of electricity in many markets, generating 12 percent of global electricity and rising. This year, for the first time, global investors are expected to pour more money into solar power — some $380 billion — than into drilling for oil.”