From Ryan Kennedy’s column “Bill McKibben: The solar panel is the new peace symbol.”
“Fossil fuels remain inextricably bound up in modern warfare as cause, weapon, and primary vulnerability. From military engagements aimed at securing foreign crude reserves to targeted strikes on energy infrastructure, volatile oil and gas assets continue to drive global instability. Writing in a recent Substack post, environmental advocate Bill McKibben highlighted how substituting hydrocarbons with distributed renewable generation fundamentally alters the strategic calculus of international conflict.”
“If we lived on a planet that ran mostly on wind and solar power, war would be less likely,” McKibben noted. “It’s hard to fight over sunshine.”
“The intersection of oil and military conflict is visible across active geopolitical flashpoints. U.S. intervention in Venezuela has focused heavily on securing governance and low-cost off-take rights to over 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. Similarly, military operations targeting Iranian energy nodes, including the Kharg Island oil terminal, demonstrate how central energy infrastructure remains in modern theater operations.”
Similarly, in the Ukraine-Russia war, targeting energy infrastructure is a key part of each country’s strategy.