By
Syed Raiyan Amir
Africa-Press – Mauritius. In the evolving terrain of global politics and economics, energy remains the lifeblood of national power and international diplomacy. The debate between renewable and fossil fuels is not merely a technical matter of sustainability versus carbon emissions; it is deeply embedded in global power structures, geopolitical narratives, and financial interests. While renewables promise a cleaner future, fossil fuels remain deeply entrenched in the machinery of energy security and diplomatic leverage. Why not both? The answer lies in who controls the dominant narratives—and why they choose to perpetuate or resist certain transitions.
The Historical Pillars of Fossil Fuel Diplomacy
Energy has always been at the heart of global strategy. Daniel Yergin’s The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power (1991) provides a seminal account of how oil shaped 20th-century geopolitics—from Churchill’s decision to switch the British navy to oil to the formation of OPEC and U.S. entanglements in the Middle East. Yergin argues that fossil fuels were not just about energy—they were strategic assets wielded for influence and power. The fossil fuel narrative, therefore, has roots in militarism, empire-building, and economic coercion.
Robert Vitalis, in Oilcraft: The Myths of Scarcity and Security that Haunt U.S. Energy Policy (2020), deconstructs the myth that oil scarcity drives foreign policy. Instead, he shows how narratives around oil scarcity are politically constructed to justify military interventions and alliance formations. The fossil fuel diplomacy of the 20th century, from the U.S.–Saudi partnership to Cold War pipeline politics, was based on maintaining control over extraction, routes, and pricing.
The Rise of Renewables and the New Narrative War
The surge in renewable energy technologies has given rise to what many call the “energy transition.” Books like Michael T. Klare’s The Race for What’s Left (2012) and All Hell Breaking Loose (2019) explore how climate change and resource depletion have reshaped global military and strategic calculations. Klare argues that the energy transition is not just about decarbonization but about avoiding future conflicts over shrinking fossil resources.
Yet, the rise of renewables has not been free from geopolitical maneuvering. In Power Shift: Energy and Sustainability in the 21st Century (2013), Peter Newell and Max Boykoff discuss how renewable technologies are also tools of soft power. Countries like China and Germany are leveraging solar and wind technologies as part of their diplomatic toolkit. China’s Belt and Road Initiative includes vast solar and hydroelectric investments, signaling a shift in energy diplomacy from pipelines to solar grids.
The Political Economy of Dual Dependency
The question arises: why not embrace both fossil fuels and renewables in a balanced, pragmatic approach? The answer lies in the economic dependencies and structural constraints discussed in Timothy Mitchell’s Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil (2011). Mitchell illustrates how oil-dependent economies design institutions and policies to protect fossil fuel interests, often suppressing democratic pressures that push for renewables. These institutions resist dual energy pathways because fossil capital has become too embedded in the state’s architecture.
Similarly, Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway in Merchants of Doubt (2010) explore how fossil fuel lobbies deliberately obscure scientific consensus on climate change to delay the transition. Fossil industries, deeply linked with political elites and financial institutions, have spent decades shaping policy narratives. Thus, even if a hybrid model makes technical sense, it becomes politically infeasible in systems where fossil interests dominate.
Who Controls the Narratives?
Control of energy narratives is less about evidence and more about agenda-setting. In The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations (2020), Daniel Yergin again emphasizes how narrative framing—such as “energy independence” in the U.S. or “green growth” in the EU—is a form of soft power. These narratives shape investment, regulatory policy, and public perception.
Andreas Malm’s Fossil Capital (2016) traces how the capitalist class has historically aligned itself with fossil energy because it allowed control over labor and time. Fossil fuels enabled the spatial and temporal flexibility that renewables could not initially offer. Therefore, the pro-fossil narrative is not merely about energy density but about control—over capital flows, production rhythms, and state apparatuses.
Even the so-called “green shift” is not free from narrative engineering. In Planet on Fire (2021), Mathew Lawrence and Laurie Laybourn-Langton argue that the green economy is increasingly dominated by Big Tech and financial actors who are more interested in rent-seeking than justice. They frame renewables in market-centric terms like “opportunity” and “innovation,” diverting attention from structural reforms such as energy democratization.
The Energy Security Trap
A major reason fossil fuels persist despite environmental costs is the doctrine of energy security. Jan H. Kalicki and David L. Goldwyn’s Energy and Security: Strategies for a World in Transition (2013) presents how nations view fossil energy as a matter of national survival. Strategic petroleum reserves, naval patrols near chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz, and pipeline diplomacy are all manifestations of this doctrine. Countries fear that over-reliance on renewable imports—such as rare earth metals or Chinese-made solar panels—will create new forms of vulnerability.
This fear is echoed in Meghan O’Sullivan’s Windfall: How the New Energy Abundance Upends Global Politics and Strengthens America’s Power (2017). She argues that America’s shale revolution reasserted U.S. energy dominance, allowing it to regain strategic autonomy. In such a context, renewables are framed as desirable but not reliable, while fossil fuels are seen as essential to maintaining great power status.
A Polarized Landscape with Shared Realities
The polarizing discourse—fossil fuels versus renewables—masks the shared vulnerabilities of both systems. In Renewable Energy: Power for a Sustainable Future (Boyle et al., 2012), the authors outline the material and infrastructure requirements of scaling renewables, including land, rare earth elements, and battery storage. Renewables, too, have geopolitical implications. As argued in The Geopolitics of Renewables (Scholten, 2018), the control over cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo or lithium in Bolivia has already triggered diplomatic jockeying.
But why must the discussion remain adversarial? Amory Lovins in Reinventing Fire (2011) proposes a blueprint for transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables without economic sacrifice. His scenario-based planning demonstrates that combining efficiency, innovation, and mixed-energy systems can provide resilience. However, the adoption of such models requires a dismantling of entrenched interests and narrative monopolies.
Media, Academia, and the Battle for Minds
Media outlets and academic institutions play a key role in reinforcing or challenging these energy narratives. In Narrative Politics (Freeden, 2013), it’s argued that political actors use carefully curated stories to frame the energy debate. For example, fossil fuels are often associated with jobs, strength, and independence, while renewables are framed as experimental or utopian. These narratives are not neutral—they are designed to influence voting behavior, funding priorities, and geopolitical alliances.
Similarly, Kate Aronoff in Overheated: How Capitalism Broke the Planet—and How We Fight Back (2021) contends that even well-meaning institutions reproduce neoliberal energy narratives that sideline justice, redistribution, and sovereignty in favor of “market-based solutions.” This diminishes the transformative potential of a dual or integrated energy future.
Beyond Binary Thinking: Integrated Energy Diplomacy
So why not both? Why not use fossil fuels as a transitional crutch while aggressively investing in renewables? A dual-path approach can provide energy security, maintain geopolitical stability, and gradually decouple economies from high-carbon dependencies.
Vaclav Smil, in Energy and Civilization: A History (2017), reminds us that energy transitions have always been incremental. Societies have never switched from one source to another overnight. Instead, they layer new sources on top of old ones. Thus, pushing for a sudden break from fossil fuels without infrastructure, storage, or grid readiness is not only impractical—it’s politically suicidal in democracies reliant on energy affordability.
But dual strategies must be managed transparently and equitably. This requires dislodging narrative monopolies held by fossil fuel lobbies, reforming subsidies, and reshaping energy diplomacy. In Energy Democracy: Advancing Equity in Clean Energy Solutions (Sweeney & Burke, 2018), the authors advocate for community-led energy models that challenge both the fossil incumbents and the corporate-led green economy. Only through participatory governance can a hybrid energy future be legitimate and resilient.
Conclusion: Reclaiming the Narrative
The debate between renewable and fossil fuels is not just technological—it is a contest over worldviews, interests, and power. The current binary is artificially maintained by actors who benefit from polarization. Fossil fuel interests resist change due to embedded capital and strategic utility. Renewable evangelists sometimes ignore the transitional needs and security concerns of developing economies.
Ultimately, the future belongs not to one camp but to a negotiated coexistence. Integrated energy systems, strategic diplomacy, and transparent narratives must replace outdated paradigms. The question is not whether to choose renewables or fossil fuels—but who decides, on what terms, and for whose benefit. Reclaiming that narrative is the first step toward a balanced, secure, and just energy future.
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