Renewables are often held up as the great success story of climate change, with policymakers and journalists routinely celebrating that clean energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels. By their logic, these plummeting costs mean that when it comes to the energy transition, the economics are essentially sorted, and we are now on an inevitable path to a world of clean energy. But is it really that straightforward?
On the first episode of the Break Down, Adrienne speaks to Brett Christophers, an acclaimed author and economic geographer at Uppsala University, about his latest book, The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Solve the Climate Crisis. In it, Brett breaks down the energy system and its critical role in confronting the climate crisis, and makes the case that in a system structured around private ownership and "free" markets, profit — not cheapness — is ultimately what matters.
Further reading
Melanie Brusseler & Chris Hayes, "Green Capital Strike!", Common Wealth.
Brett Christophers, "Why are we allowing the private sector to take over our public works?", The New York Times.
Matthew Huber, "For a Green Transition, Decommodify Electricity", Jacobin.
Adrienne Buller, "Explainer: How Britain's Energy System Works — And Why It Needs an Overhaul", Common Wealth.
Stephen Gross, Energy and Power: Germany in the Age of Oil, Atoms and Climate Change, Oxford University Press (2023).
