The Big Misconception About Clean Energy

Carbon fundamentalism is another form of denial. Energy obviously matters; it’s an absolutely strategic point of intervention for shifting us to a more just society, but when people talk about renewable energy and clean energy as if the only thing that matters is reducing carbon emissions and it doesn’t matter how we get there. We say, No, it’s not

But exploiting the heat under our feet has its downsides. Its energy density—the amount of energy we get per…

Some highlights have been hidden or truncated due to export limits.

Here’s the problem: Corn-based ethanol isn’t zero carbon, and depending on how it’s made, it may not even be low carbon. Growing the crops requires fertilizer. The refining process, when the plants get turned into fuel, produces emissions too. And growing crops for fuel takes up land that might otherwise be used for growing food—possibly forcing fa

And how will we deal with unfolding climate change? There is now a widespread consensus that we need to do something to prevent many highly undesirable consequences, but what kind of action, what sort of behavioral transformation would work best? For those who ignore the energetic and material imperatives of our world, those who prefer mantras of g