When two hurricanes reigned havoc in the Southeastern parts of USA recently, hardly any politician mentioned climate change as the main cause of recurrent severe weather events.
Mention of climate change would attribute blame for these calamities to carbon emissions and continued use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) - energy sources and commodities that support economies and jobs in many states, including electoral battleground Pennsylvania.
USA and most of the world is just getting out of a serious economic downturn that followed upset of energy supply chains by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Economic indicators like jobs, inflation, energy affordability are yet to fully recover, making it politically unwise and untimely to politicise supply and use of fossil fuels. Certainly not when USA has become a major economic beneficiary of the ongoing Ukrainian war by becoming the incremental supplier of oil and gas to energy insecure Europe.
Nor are Democrats bragging about the major energy transition policies, laws and funding enabled by the Inflation Reduction Act, and Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act enacted by Bidden Administration in 2021, and which are providing pathways and funding towards clean energy economy and transition to green energy jobs.
And this includes electrification of auto industry and ensuring that incremental energy demands are met from renewable sources. Yes, this is work in progress, not to be opened up for emotive electoral debates.
Like in many parts of the world, energy transition conversation has definitely shifted from politicians and activists to innovators, investors and businesses, with governments providing enabling policies and where necessary fiscal incentives. It is now open competition for energy market shares between oil and gas stakeholders and renewable energy players, intensity of which will determine the speed of decarbonization.
Governments and politicians around the world have generally accepted that energy transition should be sensibly managed to ensure energy security and affordability to forestall economic and political instability.
This is certainly what will happen if Kamala Harris is elected, but should Donald Trump win the elections, it will likely be a tumultuous energy transition as fossil fuel players compete with renewable energy proponents.
China has clear energy transition plans that maximize economic advantage out of global energy transition. European Union is yet to find a uniform energy transition approach that satisfactorily balances individual countries energy needs.
The new Labour government in UK appears to have defined an achievable pathway out of fossil fuels. Oil producing countries and companies across the world are planning to sustain oil and gas supplies as long as demands last, while selectively investing in renewables.
