Adam Tooze on why the "green energy transition" is historically unprecedented and deeply challenging
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Adam Tooze
Summary
Adam Tooze critically examines the concept of the "green energy transition," arguing that the historical record does not support the idea of rapid, smooth energy transitions. He contends that past energy shifts were slow, partial, and driven by geopolitical and economic forces rather than deliberate policy. Tooze warns that framing the current climate challenge as just another "transition" risks underestimating the unprecedented scale, speed, and political difficulty of replacing fossil fuels with clean energy, especially given the deep entrenchment of hydrocarbon infrastructure and the geopolitical tensions surrounding energy security.
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Hacker NewsAdam Tooze on why the "green energy transition" is historically unprecedented and deeply challenginglrb.co.ukKey quotes
· 3 pulledAn honest account of energy history would conclude not that energy transitions were a regular feature of the past, but that they were rare, slow, and driven by forces far beyond policy choice.
The idea that we can simply 'transition' from fossil fuels to clean energy as we have done before is a comforting myth that obscures the scale of the challenge.
What is being asked of the global economy today is not a transition in the historical sense, but a deliberate, rapid, and state-directed transformation without precedent.
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