i wish any of this would get to latam but since we’re mostly independent when it comes to oil it probably won’t plus we don’t have the slightest of infrastructure. at least oil prices aren’t that fucked here so far
Cory Doctorow wrote about this too, recently, and it too is worth a read: https://pluralistic.net/2026/04/20/praxis/ .
“This is the template for the long-foreseeable future. Thanks to Trump’s stupid, bloody, unforgivable war of choice in the Gulf, the world is going to install unimaginable amounts of cleantech. They are going to throw away their water heaters, motorbikes, furnaces and cars and replace them with all-electric versions. They’re going to cover their roofs and balconies with panels. The battery industry will experience a sustained boom. The fortunes that fossil fuel companies are reaping from the current shortage is their last windfall.
The writing is on the wall. Trump opened Alaska for drilling and the oil companies noped out because they couldn’t find a bank that would loan them the money needed to get started. Then it happened again in Venezuela. This de-fossilizing was already the direction of travel, the only question was the pace at which the transition would proceed – and Comrade Trump has just stomped all over the (liquid natural) gas pedal.”
This is such a good take. It makes sense and I love to hear it!
They called him a madman…
The key part here is that there’s been a huge structural shock due to infrastructure getting destroyed and Hormuz being closed. This isn’t an event countries can just hunker down for a few months to ride out. So, there’s really no other choice now. Either you start building out renewables or your economy is going to unravel.
It’s going to wind up as a transformative event, but I don’t relish getting to the other side. Especially with a government adversarial to moving off of the fossil crap.
indeed
These figures are just for March, too! Just how much higher April’s figures will be?
There was also a bit of a run on solar home batteries here in Australia (somewhat related, but also due to a reduction in rebates from May 1st) - I can’t help but also wonder how big of a jump in export those figures would be if/when published.
It’s kind of funny how China was basically preparing their whole economy for exactly this moment. Countries will want solar panels, and then they’re going to need batteries to stabilize the grid, and EVs to get around. All this overcapacity the US has been screeching about is turning out to be very prudent indeed.
I mean, China has positioned itself as the world’s factory - so regardless of outcomes they were all but guaranteed to succeed.
It’s just funny (in a black comedy sense) just how badly American corporations have hamstring their future chances of success chasing short-term profits.
Tesla was the industry leader for modern EVs for so damned long, and they’ve seemingly pissed that all away. They’re no longer the fastest, cheapest, luxurious, or technologically advanced cars in the market - and this was all before Must went full derp-MAGA and alienated the vast majority of their customer base.
I recall somebody said that Tesla is much better understood as a meme stock company, and honestly that’s the best description of it that I’ve heard. The stock value is completely divorced from the actual product, it’s just hype. And as a result the company focuses on ensuring hype persists rather than making decent products.
