this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
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Climate
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What America does is not really that important, because America does have sufficient fossil fuel production to satisfy its own energy needs. It has an incentive to continue using fossil fuels, simply because it produces them.
I think it's much more important what the big economies do that don't have that option: Europe, China, India, Africa. They should have electrified a long time ago, but haven't because of a host of reasons, mostly the cost of switching technologies.
A sudden supply shock like this can make you quickly forget costs of switching. Sort of like a catalyst in chemistry: closing the Strait of Hormuz is a little like putting platinum in your exhaust pipe, it makes things happen that wouldn't otherwise (including making them less polluting).