the climate crisis¶

Let's be perfectly clear: the climate crisis is a DIRECT consequence of capitalism. The reason we as a society haven't transitioned to clean energy sources in the 100+ years since their invention is because capital-holders never invested in the technology. (⅙) They actively avoided it, in fact. The main reason for this wasn't scepticism that it could ever be made efficient or catch on: it was a fear that it would cut into profits, since it's free. Solar power, for example, made a huge splash waaaay back in the NINETEENTH CENTURY. (2/6) It was presented as an alternative to coal, which people were afraid would run out. But as more coal deposits and better extraction/transport techniques were discovered, capitalists decided to keep investing in that, since it relied on a resource that they could control. (3/6) In the 1980s, Exxon researchers discovered climate change for the first time, and made recommendations to the company that it should transition its operations to carbonless energy. Instead, the company built its offshore rigs higher up, to prepare for rising ocean levels. (4/6) In short, climate change has happened not because of negligence, but because clean, renewable energy can be accessed without huge investments of capital. This means those who already have the money to invest in dirty energy would lose their biggest superpower: restriction. (⅚) With clean energy, you don't need to find and purchase land rich in a particular resource, you don't need expensive infrastructure to harvest and transport it, so access to it can't be restricted. That is the only reason the energy grid wasn't build to be clean from the start.