We don’t have to live like this
The US war on Iran has made one thing crystal clear: any disruption in the global production or transportation of oil and natural gas has a direct impact on anyone dependent on fossil fuels. Whether you heat your home with oil or natural gas, drive a gas-powered car, or live somewhere like New England, where most of our electricity comes from natural gas, you will feel the effects of the war in Iran. You will also feel the effects indirectly as the cost of everything from airline tickets to food begins to rise, because the energy required to produce and transport everything is more expensive.
This happened in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Within the span of four years, the vulnerability of our reliance on fossil fuels has been illustrated, again. Iran and Ukraine are not anomalies.
Oil prices more than doubled during the 1973 Arab Oil embargo, the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the 1990 First Gulf War, and the Iraq War in the early 2000s. From 2008 to 2022, prices fluctuated widely because of the global recession, the Arab Spring, COVID, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Since December 2025, oil prices have risen from $55/barrel to over $100/barrel this month.
Many diverse factors affect the cost of oil, but they all have two things in common: they’re out of our control, and they’re usually volatile.
I feel compelled to ask, is there a less vulnerable source of energy we could use? Emphatically, the answer is yes! As Bill McKibbon has illustrated so well in his latest book, Here Comes the Sun, the answer is shining down on us. Together, solar panels and batteries make a convincing argument for energy security and resilience from external volatilities beyond our control.
It’s been over 50 years since the oil embargo of 1973 held us in thrall. On a utility scale, solar and wind cost less than fossil fuels and have the added advantage of being insulated from the effects of war. Isn’t it time to throw off the yoke of fossil fuel tyranny and claim independence?