Oil Incumbents Use Mystery Surcharges to Resist Clean Energy Transition
By
Matt Stoller
Kettled twice. Extra chewy, extra trustworthy.
Summary
The article discusses how oil industry incumbents are using tactics like mystery gasoline surcharges to maintain fossil fuel dominance and resist the transition to cleaner energy technologies. It contrasts the aggressive embrace of other new technologies (crypto, AI, automation) among American elites with the resistance faced by energy systems that compete with fossil fuels. The piece also touches on Gavin Newsom's conflict with Chevron over high gas prices, framing it as part of a larger struggle over whether the U.S. will remain locked into an expensive fossil fuel infrastructure.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledIf you deploy energy systems at scale that compete with fossil fuels, you will be ignored.
Among American elites, there appears to be an aggressive embrace of new technologies, whether crypto, generative artificial intelligence, or automated systems in war. But there is an important exception.
The real stakes are about whether the U.S. will remain locked into an expensive fossil fuel tech stack.
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