Impossible, the “energy transition” in capitalism

Capitalism would be promoting an “energy transition”, to consolidate capitalism, in a period of crisis and climate chaos that can threaten its legitimacy. In this sense, it operates in the same way as when it comes to questioning patriarchy and colonialism: seeking to legitimize itself with supposed policies against machismo and racism, pretending that the system shares aspects of feminist struggles and oppressed peoples with the aim of carve out a small sector of faithful who are embedded at the top of the system’s pyramid.

The recent World Climate Summit (COP 28), held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, showed that promoting climate care and the transition to renewable energies is deeply hypocritical when the event is held in a country dependent on fossil fuels, and The executive director of the National Oil Company is designated as president of the COP.

As the Grain organization points out, the COP “felt more like a business event” rather than an intergovernmental climate summit; a meeting similar to the Davos Forum, where billionaires meet. Grain adds that “fossil fuel and meat industry lobbying staff numbered a record 2,756 people who packed the rooms and hallways” (

He concludes that “the COP has been captured by the food and agribusiness corporations” and that all its statements are hollow, mere pantomimes and propaganda for the consumption of the clueless public, which, unfortunately, is not small and abounds even in organizations that claim to be environmentalists. It is a shame that there are still social movements that give credibility to these meetings and even attend these events, investing them with questionable legitimacy.

I think we need to understand that actually existing capitalism is deeply dependent on fossil fuels, that the United States, as the core of capitalism, is intrinsically dependent on oil and gas, and cannot and will not part with them. In fact, the US rise to the rank of world power coincides with the discoveries and exploitation of oil; and reinforced its dominance with the agreement with Saudi Arabia in 1945.

Energy specialist Gail Tverberg argues that the current system depends on fossil fuels, which are used in everything from the Internet and the manufacture of solar panels to the construction of buildings, the extraction of raw materials and transportation. of merchandise.

But it is in agriculture where dependence on fossil fuels is decisive, as “it has become incredibly efficient using large mechanical equipment, usually powered by diesel, along with a large number of chemicals, including herbicides, insecticides and fertilizers,” holds in the portal oilprice.com (

Exiting corporate agriculture would mean that rich countries would live like the majority of African nations, which “use very few fossil fuels,” or that their populations would live like the native peoples and peasants of Latin America, where working time It is dedicated mainly to the land and almost no fuel or agrochemicals are used.

A final piece of information that links capitalism to the depredation of nature is offered by a report that states that environmental crimes are the fourth most lucrative criminal activity in the world. It refers to illegal deforestation, mining, fishing and trade in wildlife that “have become a huge financial engine, which in 2018 was estimated to generate between 110 billion and 281 billion dollars in annual illicit income. global scale, according to Interpol data” (

As we know, our continent is especially vulnerable to crimes against nature, due to its biodiversity and abundance of minerals and water. The legislation promoted by governments fails to stop extractive ventures or mitigate damage to the environment.

One might wonder why there is so much fuss about the energy transition and the use of renewable energy. Much of the power of the system today is placed on promoting an environmentalism that does not question capitalism, with the most diverse names (including “green” or sustainable mining), to convince environmentalists that they need to believe in progressive policies.

It is not true that large events such as the COP, the United Nations world conferences on women and against racism, have not achieved much. They have achieved much more than one could expect, but in an indirect way: they gave life to the progres of the world that entertain those below without promoting real changes.