I have been a flea on the back of the Fossil Fuel Beast for about half a century. It has given me a career, a home, a living. And I am grateful for all off that. But it has been clear to me for some time now that the true name of this beast is Fossil Fuel Dinosaur. Sorry, but the comet has already hit the earth (metaphorically) and the metaphorical ash is already spreading along the atmosphere. And some of the dinosaurs are already falling over, and others to follow.
Today, I see an article saying that the European Union has approved a ban on new fossil fuel vehicle sales beginning in 2035, and very significant carbon reductions by 2030. This is needed to respond to the life threatening, city and agriculture destroying climate change that is upon us now, only to get worse before we can make it become better.
To my fossil fuel industry friends, please note that the dinosaurs never went away. There are billions of them all around the world today - we call them birds. Yes, birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs. See the attached graph. Avialae descended from two legged Tyrannosaurs about 150 million years ago. They adapted and survived whereas the bigger breeds perished.
The same with fossil fuels. Interestingly, the former Shah of Iran, deposed by the Iranian Revolution in 1979, once said that oil was too precious to be wasted by burning it for fuel - makes clothing for example. The point I make is that those parts of the fossil fuel dinosaurs that can adapt to the changing world will survive, but the monsters will not.
Econ 101 states the most obvious of all economic truths - with the rise of the horseless carriage, the demand for buggy whips declined dramatically. Much of the fossil fuel industry will find themselves in a metaphorical buggy whip industry eventually. It is up to them to learn how to move into the future rather than just try to stop the future from happening.
The enormous political power of fossil fuels can hold off the inevitable for only so long. I am confident that the smartest kids in MIT, Stanford, Cal Tech, England, India, China, and around the world are not dreaming of making their fortunes and legacies by designing more powerful engines or more efficient gas turbines. They are dreaming of revolutionary green energy solutions that save the human race on this precious planet.
What starts out as impossible becomes dreams which become creative, world changing science and technology. Today’s kids understand this and are eager to push us old fogies aside and get on with creating a livable world rather than just watching it be destroyed by old, dying paradigms.
The future belongs to them, and I trust them to rise to this enormous challenge.
