Can capitalism save the planet?

6 snips

Jun 11, 2024

Debate on whether capitalism can save the planet with contrasting views from two books. Discussion on obstacles hindering renewable energy investments. Insights on the role of innovation in combating climate change. Government-owned utility leading wind power development in Quebec. Exploration of challenges in decarbonization and voluntary carbon offsets.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Crooks vs. Klein

Ed Crooks disagreed with Naomi Klein's argument that capitalism must be abandoned to address climate change.
Klein challenged Crooks' view, suggesting it revealed his mindset, but never quoted him.

INSIGHT

Renewable Returns

Christopher's argues low renewable energy returns are due to market structure.
Crooks counters, asserting it's due to excessive capital chasing limited projects.

INSIGHT

Subsidy Complexity

Melissa Lott highlights the complexity of analyzing energy markets due to various subsidies.
She questions which subsidies should be considered when evaluating market deployments, citing an example from Texas.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Two books that are essential reading for energy wonks give contrasting views on how to tackle climate change.

The hot book in the energy world right now is Brett Christophers’ The Price Is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Save the Planet. It’s a detailed look at the structural issues in electricity markets and the challenges of generating returns on renewable investments, arguing that inadequate profitability is the key reason why the transition to low-carbon energy is not moving fast enough to address the threat of global warming.

It’s a provocative thesis that has sparked heated debate, on both sides of the debate. If you work in the energy business, you need to get to grips with the argument, even if you ultimately think it’s wrong.

In this episode, Ed Crooks is joined by Melissa Lott, Professor at Columbia University’s Climate School, and Joseph Majkut, director of the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to discuss the question of whether private investment and market forces can bring about the reduction in emissions that the world needs.

They also review another important book that has broadly the opposite message: Akshat Rathi’s Climate Capitalism – Winning the Global Race to Zero Emissions. That book focuses on the real examples of progress in the energy transition.

At a time when the pace of the energy transition globally may be faltering, and the 1.5 degrees limit to global warming is getting further and further out of reach, Climate Capitalism shows just how much change and innovation there is in the industry. Bill Gates says it’s an important read for anyone in need of optimism.

In spirit, at least, it seems like a very different message from The Price Is Wrong. But are the fundamental conclusions of the two books really so different? Ed, Melissa and Joseph discuss whether there might be some common ground there after all.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.