I agree in some ways, but I think energy research is different, because if it actually works it directly results in stuff for everyman.<p>The actual goal of Apollo was &#x27;put a man on the moon&#x27;. Which is super cool, but obviously not all that directly useful.<p>By contrast, a program whose explicit goal is to make batteries better, or make solar more efficient, or bring fusion reactors closer to production, or even just generically &#x27;do some energy research&#x27; is a lot more obviously &#x27;good&#x27;.