Good post. I don't share your pessimism but I get why you feel that way. I think people just need to be told by a good leader that there are real trade-offs with taking "the nuclear option" but we have to embrace it.
People accept trade-offs all the time. We understand some jets crash but we still don't give up air travel. We understand cars crash but we don't give up automobiles. I just think nuclear meltdown risk is overblown. If it happens four times a century, is that acceptable? I think it is. All things considered, how many people have died from nuclear meltdowns versus coal extraction?
My amateur opinion is we need to get fusion before fossil runs out or we‘re fucked. Then it also needs to be shared among all humans (for free hopefully). Or we are fucked as well.
Either energy collapse or war or both might result otherwise.
If we manage to avoid either (seems unlikely so far), then we just need to solve climate change and we’re almost at type 1 civ.
The best we can do is get behind solar and wind and pray for a fusion breakthrough.