Many of us sense that our electricity use and the fuel in our tanks connect us to destructive global forces.
Here’s some good news for a change!
In the last several months, for the first time in human history, renewable energy has become the cheapest form of electricity on Earth!
Now that solar, battery storage and wind turbines are simply cheaper and beating dirty coal and fossil fuel energy generation around the world, we find ourselves at an historic turning point:
Shifting Global Power Dynamics.
For over a century, the story of global power has been a simple one: Whoever controls the most oil or coal wins. It’s been a game of “haves” and “have-nots,” defined by extraction and scarcity. But that old narrative is now starting to unravel.
The main driver of this shift is that we are moving away from a world shaped by fuels to a world shaped by technology. This puts the advantage in the hands of average people instead of the oil and coal tycoons and cartels of yesteryear.
Think about it: Once you build a solar panel or a battery, it keeps working regardless of what happens to global gas prices or foreign conflicts.
Energy was an endless prescription we had to refill repeatedly by paying a middleman.
Now we have long-lasting energy producing tools which we can own, maintain, repair and replace as need be.
The real crux boils down to who controls the supply. On old side we have the old traditional power providers like Exxon & the Koch brothers.
On the new side, we have Renewable Energy Equipment Providers making solar panels, batteries & wind turbines.
There are many more equipment providers to choose from (as opposed to the limited OPEC oil cartels). This wider distribution of tools throughout societies drives prices down because it’s much harder for the many small equipment companies to create monopolies and fix energy prices.
Whether it’s a small town in Colorado or a village in Madagascar, the ability to generate power locally means we are no longer at the mercy of a volatile global market. This shift moves us away from the “zero-sum” mindset where one person’s gain is another’s loss. Instead, it offers a future of energy abundance and community resilience.
That’s because our (and it is ours) Natural Energy is infinite. Sun, Water, Wind.
If you are interested in learning more, I highly recommend Matt Tilleard’s TED Talk, “The best thing that could happen to the energy industry” and also Bill Mickibben’s great new book “Here comes the Sun”
Thanks for everything you do & here’s to a brighter tomorrow for all!
Charris Ford