Not a good analogy. Energy is energy (in its various forms). Vacuum tubes are a technology, like oil production or PV. If this guy is using this to shill for fossil fuels that’s obviously BS but his basic point about the centrality of energy to technological civilization is not wrong.

Information transmission is information transmission (in its various forms). Different technology is used to produce energy. Being stuck on an outmoded form of technology for information transmission is foolish, just as thinking gas is the only way to generate energy to power a car.