For decades, the United States has reveled in the notion of energy supremacy — first through oil and fossil fuel dominance, and now through the promise of a boundless renewable revolution. And that vision has largely been successful: In 2024, the United States installed more than 97.2 GW of solar energy capacity, enough to fully power 18 million homes. Additionally, wind energy, hydroelectric power and other sustainable energy sources now make up an increasing share of our energy usage year by year.
That vision, and that realization of progress, have promoted many to call for an abundance energy revolution, in which clean energy sources replace fossil fuels and allow for utopian economic growth and consumption. It is a vision predicated on the idea of renewable energies being a miracle-like substance that will allow us to maintain our global competition and market advantage.
However, this idea is fundamentally flawed.
The first practical problem is that the vast majority of the energy we use still comes from polluting fossil fuels. In fact, the United States is still more dependent on fossil fuels than the other largest fossil fuel emitters, like China. But the more fundamental issue is the idea of “energy abundance.” Even renewable energy has environmental consequences, and an attitude of unchecked energy consumption and continued rampant consumption will continue to strain our depleted planet.
In its “2024 Renewables Report,” the International Energy Agency estimated that the world would add more than 5,500 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity between 2024 and 2030 — almost three times the increase seen between 2017 and 2023. This optimism and massive achievement masks a troubling reality: global fossil fuel consumptions, in fact, have continued to hit new highs, with 2024 seeing some of humanity’s biggest annual carbon releases ever.
Instead of forcing coal and oil into obsolescence, we’re merely adding more energy to the system — filling the gap with renewables while still burning record amounts of fossil fuels. This is the real danger of the “energy abundance” mindset: it assumes that a limitless supply of clean energy will eventually render fossil fuels obsolete. In reality, renewable energies are not replacing fossil fuels, but supplementing them, contributing to a continued pattern of broad energy consumption.
As long as consumption continually increases, and as Americans continue to equate prosperity with ever-growing production and consumption, we will continue to extract and burn whatever energy sources are available. Compounding this issue, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s International Energy Outlook projects that rising global incomes and economic growth are projected to drive up energy demand, effectively nullifying the minute progress we’ve made by adopting cleaner technologies.
The idea that we can achieve sustainability solely through unlimited “clean” energy is not only misleading — it’s dangerous.
Instead, we must pursue energy security — ensuring reliable and affordable access to electricity. Energy security stabilizes our energy and provides affordable prices to American consumers while also enhancing our national security at large.
Renewability doesn’t give us the license to unscrupulously consume and produce energy without attention to consequences. It’s about reconsidering what we truly need, what we can cut out and how we can minimally use energy to sufficiently meet our energy needs without unnecessary overproduction.
True climate responsibility demands more than cleaner power; it requires a fundamental shift in how we use and understand energy. It’s a shift that begins with government action but is equally rooted in our own awareness of energy use and consumption. Everything we rely on — plastic, metal and even “eco-friendly” products — is produced using planet-intensive energy, ultimately derived from fossil fuels.
As students, we must hold our politicians accountable when they propose visions of a green future built on renewable energy abundance. Our activism and voices are crucial in ensuring that energy policies are pursued as a necessity for our survival, not merely to parade economic strength and innovation. Real change begins with taking responsibility for our own consumption, and a willingness to forgo what we do not truly need for the sake of our survival.
Our society is undeniably dependent on fossil fuels; that won’t change overnight. But every effort to reduce our own energy consumption brings us one step closer to a genuinely sustainable future.
Eric Lu PO ’28 is a politics major from Salt Lake City, Utah. He wants to explore ways to reduce his own overall consumption while at Pomona.