Spencer Dale warns that transitioning too slowly to clean energy – a disorderly transition – now will lead to a rush after 2040 that essentially breaks the global energy system as we try to stay within the 2C by 2050 carbon budget. Good advice, I suppose, but wrong. Chaos is our friend. It is the only force that can break the inertia of the energy status quo that is holding back the energy transition in Canada.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Oil giant BP\u2019s chief economist argues in the Energy Outlook 2024<\/a>\u00a0 that the world is in an \u201cenergy addition\u201d stage, consuming increasing amounts of both clean energy and fossil fuels. Instead, we must switch to \u201cenergy substitution\u201d as quickly as possible. Until we do, greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise, as they have inexorably done, except for the brief blip of 2020 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n But how to switch from the addition stage to the substitution stage is the challenge. Dale doesn\u2019t have much to offer on this point. There are a couple of models to consider, neither of which are particularly palatable.<\/span><\/p>\n The first is to treat the climate crisis as a war. Governments direct companies to manufacture solar panels, electric vehicles, and batteries instead of televisions and other consumer products. Climate activist Seth Klein outlined this strategy in his book, “A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency<\/a>.”<\/span><\/p>\n