For much of the last decade, many have pushed an unjustifiably optimistic view of global energy consumption, along the lines of, fossil fuels are “on their way out.” Sadly, this is still a delusion that stands very much in the way of the laudable goal of those pushing that line of thinking: addressing climate change by transitioning to clean energy.
Meanwhile, the Iran War is just the latest international development serving to remind everyone precisely how much we all still depend on fossil fuels. Before this, it was Israel’s war in Gaza, and before that, it was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which, after a nearly ten-year respite, reintroduced everyone to the idea that oil prices could trade above $100 a barrel.
