Energy Thinks: What Hasn’t Changed
And other disco-inspired reflections
What You’ll Get in This Episode of Energy Thinks
This solo episode gives you a chance to think out loud with me. Not about what changed this year (everybody else does that) but about how much hasn’t changed in the context of The Moment—and what that means for what you should do next.
And because I’ve been listening to a lot of disco (check out the episode to hear why), I had excess energy to opine on where woke went wrong and what we can—and must!—learn from the movement’s missteps.
The episode represents my first cut on these issues—I’ll also be exploring them in upcoming Both of These Things Are True editions and in my new book. Please send me your thoughts before I begin drafting the book in earnest in January.
On what hasn’t changed: The energy system is complex and will continue to evolve. We will not freeze in some version of the status quo—and any company or leader who thinks we can will be left in the dust. Energy will continue to become cleaner, more efficient, and more affordable. The future belongs to companies committed to leadership in innovation.
On where woke went wrong: On many topics, including energy and climate, proponents presented the challenges and solutions as too simple, too easy. Something as wildly complex as the energy system became narrated as a choice between good and evil. The bad guys in this story got tired of being, well, the bad guys and rejected the narrative wholesale. Let’s make sure we don’t do the same thing in reverse.
What to Do Next in The Moment
Listen to this episode and let me know what you think! My work on The Moment continues to get stronger thanks to the ideas of readers like you.
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To the hustle,
Tisha
I listened to your podcast, and found myself waiting for an address to send comments. Alas, there wasn't one, so I'm using this venue.
Your various lists are interesting, and generally accurate. We may disagree in some details but overall, you are right, and your rationale for the woke collapse was spot on. It could have been said much easier though, with the simple declarative statement that "common sense is no longer comatose."
Your initial question was "what hasn't changed." You offered several examples, to which I agree, but absent from that list was something that is important to the future - the level of people's ignorance about energy. In spite of instant communications, the internet, AI, and a host of other technological advances, too many people condemn fossil fuels for being "dirty," or nuclear power for being "unsafe," or, worst of all, for renewables being "green." That ignorance is multiplied by the NGOs who deliberately post false information to their members to incite fear, while supporting a singular political agenda.
Doomberg has postulated that energy companies are technological powerhouses. I very much believe that to be true. Then why don't those companies put more effort into showing people not only that they are wrong, but that only through the responsible use of fossil fuel and nuclear power will humanity flourish!
Madam Curie, a scientist for whom I hold the highest regard, has said that nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. The hand-in-hand companion of ignorance is fear. If we are to better understand our world, we must first educate the ignorant. I know that sounds preachy, or as my grandmother would say, "high and mighty," and I do not offer the advice with airs. But I firmly believe the goal of science is the gradual removal of prejudice. We cannot advance as a society or a civilization in an atmosphere driven by fear and ignorance.
My two cents, adjusted for inflation