I guess so… I mean, the chart literally has GDP on the independent axis so it’s really just the commentary that is the problem. 

The follow on from the assertion that rich countries use more energy is fundamentally more important though… why do they? Because humans are likely happier/healthier when they have access to abundant energy. Rich nations tend to have that access and poor nations don’t. 

I think people tend to think that, but then just want to equate being rich with being happy and so they explain the chart with inverted axes to oversimplify the interpretation.  

 > Because humans are likely happier/healthier when they have access to abundant energy

I also realize that this statement 100% needs qualification and it is likely not true that happiness is perfectly correlated with the amount of energy one has access to 

 Yeah, I try to stay away from happiness measurements.

That's a difficult one to measure and one can be poor and yet happy.