70s YA sci-fi book: an alien warns a boy about ice caps melting, global warming

Question

I have a vague childhood memory of reading a science fiction novel in which the protagonist had some kind of psionic connection with an alien who warned about the dangers of rising sea levels.

Sound familiar to anyone?

Answer 1

This is really Daniel's answer, and I'll delete if if Daniel wants to post. In the mean time since I have the book Chocky I thought I'd post some details.

Chocky describes itself as:

I am an explorer, I mean scout, I mean missionary -- no, I mean teacher. I am here to teach things.

and it makes a telepathic contact with a boy named Matthew. The book leads towards the revelation that Chocky can help humans exploit a power in the universe helpfully described as xxxxx. Chocky delivers a bit of a sermon:

'Yes. You have not done badly with electricity in a hundred years. And you did well with steam in quite a short time. But all that is so inefficient. And your oil engines are dirty, noisy, poisonous, and the cars you drive with them are barbarous, dangerous ...'

'Yes,' I interrupted. 'You mentioned that before, to Matthew. But we do have atomic power now.'

'Very crudely, yes. You are learning, slowly. But you still live in a finite, sun-based economy.'

'Sun-based?'

'Yes. Everything you are, and have, you owe to the radiations from your sun. Direct radiations you must have to keep your bodies alive, and to grow your food, and provide fresh-water; and they could continue to support you for millions of years. But to grow and expand intelligence needs power. It is true you have an elementary form of atomic power which you will no doubt improve. But that is almost your only investment for your future. Most of your power is being used to build machines to consume power faster and faster, while your sources of power remain finite. There can be only one end to that.'