June 23, 2026
Seven essays in, the question that started this series — what happens when a critical strait closes, how the world survives on stored reserves, and what it takes to reopen — has been answered as fully as the facts allow. A natural next question follows close behind: if workable alternatives to oil already exist — electric vehicles, renewable power, next-generation batteries — what is actually slowing that transition down, and what is speeding it up?
That question splits naturally into two parts, and so will the series.
Energy Policy comes first. The same battery technology, the same wind and solar economics, the same EV manufacturing capability exists in much of the world — yet adoption varies enormously by country. Norway approaches near-universal EV adoption while other nations barely begin. China built its EV manufacturing dominance through over a decade of sustained state investment — and is now stepping back from that support, but only after capturing 70 percent of global production. Other major economies are pulling back regulatory support as well, in some cases before reaching anything like that level of market maturity. None of that gap is explained by the technology itself. It is explained by policy — incentives, regulation, trade decisions, and political will. The next set of essays will focus there: not on opinions about what governments should do, but on a factual account of what governments are doing, and the consequences that follow.
Energy Innovation comes after. Once the policy landscape is clear, the series turns back to the frontier — nuclear power’s new generation of small modular reactors, geothermal, hydrogen, and the slow but real progress toward commercial fusion. The last essay touched on next-generation batteries. There is considerably more ground to cover beyond that.
A note on tone, since this is the kind of subject that invites strong opinions: these essays will stay exactly where the rest of this series has stayed — fact first, sourced, and politically neutral. Where a policy has a measurable effect, that effect will be reported plainly, without assigning praise or blame. Readers are capable of drawing their own conclusions from accurate information. That is what these essays intend to provide.
The first Energy Policy essay follows on June 26, 2026.