Followers of The Break Down may remember our very first episode, in which Adrienne spoke to the brilliant Brett Christophers about the many and varied reasons why — despite all the hype about how cheap renewables have become — the transition to renewable energy cannot be left to the market and the profit motive. What that interview didn't leave us with, however, was an answer to the obvious question: if not the market, then what?
Here to make the case for a simple but radical solution are Chris Hayes and Melanie Brusseler, the Chief Economist and US Programme Director, respectively, at Common Wealth, a progressive UK based think tank and our partners in this series. In today’s episode, Chris and Melanie break down how public ownership can transform our energy system, providing not only a faster and cheaper path to 100 per cent clean energy, but also the foundations of a more just and democratic economy overall.
Further Reading
Melanie Brusseler et al., "The Greatest Generation: How Public Power Can Deliver Net Zero Faster, Fairer and Cheaper", Common Wealth.
Daniela Gabor, "The (European) Derisking State", Center for Open Science.
Hamza Hamouchene, "How Renewables Corporations Are Exploiting The Global South", The New Internationalist.
Dieter Helm, "Luck is not an energy policy - the cost of energy, the price cap and what to do about it". Available here.
