The best prism through which to see current events is something I’ve been writing about here for over 15 years.
It’s The War Against Oil.
The sub-title of this blog when I started put it simply. “The Sun shines. The wind blows. The tides roll. We live on a molten rock. There is no energy shortage.”
When I started writing this, it seemed ridiculous. Renewables only had market share because of nuclear and dams. The goal of the Obama Administration was that solar costs would one day equal those for coal-based energy. They have, they do , and they’re going lower. Much lower.
Science has spoken. The market is speaking as well. Renewables now account for 20% of U.S. power, and wind represents almost half of it. Along the way some forms of renewable energy, like tidal and geothermal, haven’t panned out as we’d like. Batteries have only improved slowly, and they remain behind the curve. The potential for growth over the rest of this decade is huge. We’re not even leading the way here. China is.
So what’s the problem?
The World is Fighting, Killing, Dying, for Oil?
Oil funds the U.S. Republican Party. I can’t put it more plainly than that. The money goes out both directly and indirectly. To media, to social networks, to interest groups and religious groups, surrounding victims in a cocoon of misinformation.
What oil can’t do here they do in Russia, in Arabia, in Iran. Without oil money, Russia’s war in Ukraine would collapse. Without oil money, neither Hamas nor Iran’s own regime would survive a week. The Arabs know oil is doomed, yet they spend billions, buying up entire industries, to deny it. Oil and religion are tied together in a dance of death.
For years, politics fought with science and markets to determine whether human life will continue to exist on this planet. With politics failing, those on the side of oil have chosen violence. The War Against Oil has become a literal war.
Recognizing this fact is the first step toward beating it. Stating it clearly is the second step. Engaging with it is the third.
The only way oil can win is by our ignoring where they’re standing.
