Cosmic acceleration is explained quantitatively, as an apparent effect due to
gravitational energy differences that arise in the decoupling of bound systems
from the global expansion of the universe. "Dark energy" is a misidentification
of those aspects of gravitational energy which by virtue of the equivalence
principle cannot be localised, namely gradients in the energy due to the
expansion of space and spatial curvature variations in an inhomogeneous
universe. A new scheme for cosmological averaging is proposed which solves the
Sandage-de Vaucouleurs paradox. Concordance parameters fit supernovae
luminosity distances, the angular scale of the sound horizon in the CMB
anisotropies, and the effective comoving baryon acoustic oscillation scale seen
in galaxy clustering statistics. Key observational anomalies are potentially
resolved, and unique predictions made, including a quantifiable variance in the
Hubble flow below the scale of apparent homogeneity.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures. An essay which received Honorable Mention in the
2007 GRF Essay Competition. To appear in a special issue of Int. J. Mod.
Phys.