The myth of energy independence

(Hi, I’m Gar Lipow. I’ve worked extensively on renewable energy issues, and have written an (as-yet-unpublished) book on alternatives to carbon emissions, mentioned by John McGrath here. I’m going to be posting on efficiency and renewable technologies that can replace fossil fuels as well as on the economics and politics of phasing them out.)

“Energy independence” may be the buzzword in the renewable energy field. Even the invaluable Apollo Alliance emphasizes ending “dependence on foreign oil.” The short-term political benefit is indisputable. The term polls in the Nineties, probably ahead of motherhood and apple pie.

But it is a loser in the long run. “Energy independence” reinforces a frame that works against renewables. The connotation: “it is all the fault of those outsiders, those others who addicted us to their seductive foreign oil.”

grist