Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Columnist

Switch to Renewables Won't End the Geopolitics of Energy

Countries that dominate the export of rare-earth minerals will be the petrostates of tomorrow.

August 21, 2017 at 1:00 PM UTC

Meghan L. O’Sullivan is a professor of international affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School and the North American chair of the Trilateral Commission, she served on the National Security Council from 2004 to 2007.

Plentiful sun, rare-earths.
Source: AFP/Getty Images

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In another sign that the age of fossil fuels is waning, the California State Senate has passed a bill to commit the state to use 100 percent renewable energy for power by 2045. Other states and cities -- including Massachusetts, Chicago and Atlanta -- intend to make similar switches. Proponents highlight a bevy of ways in which the Age of Renewables will improve our lives: lower carbon emissions, cheaper electricity rates, new abilities to bring power to impoverished nations ... and independence from the economic and political entanglements of volatile global oil and gas markets.

Yes, there are many reasons to be enthusiastic about a shift toward renewables. Unfortunately, an escape from energy geopolitics is not likely to be among them.