by steven holl
As temperatures continue to rise under a regime that grants petroleum oligarchs free rein and public subsidies to sustain a reign of fire will you remember “The Art of the Deal”?
That promise was to cripple solar and wind and scientific cooperation in exchange for the money to bludgeon those opposing the despot’s return to office. They did it in plain sight. They threw their weight around and gathered in the spotlight for photos.
They monetized cynicism as they conspired to diminish the good faith brilliance of workers building the electric economy making oil and gas obsolete. They cut the cord on the nascent transition to decarbonization and raked in mountains of cash for schemes at home and across the world to prop up petroleum.
They removed references to climate change and global warming from the websites of government and capitulating institutions. They peppered the media with disinformation while more carbon dioxide and methane add to the heat-trapping atmospheric blanket.
And the cartel is formidable, despite physics. A deep bench of sycophants and incrementalists stand ready to suit up as politicians to twist elections toward the irrational.
Elsewhere, the future is being built to harvest energy directly from the sun. Electric vehicles dominate sales in the Far East. Australians enjoy afternoons of free electricity. To escape the tyranny of petroleum, DIY solar panels proliferate across Pakistan. The Philippines is poised to follow their example.
Will you remember that, for a brief moment, the United States was centered on that path to low-cost electricity?
Will you remember the betrayal as you fill out your ballot for the primaries?
I sure will.