Fossil Fuel Projects Mean Stranded Assets and Nervous Investors…But The Source of That Message Matters

Adnan Amin, the director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) explains that the market is abandoning fossil fuels, as investors begin to observe that it’s only a matter of time (and no one knows how much) that global financial markets develop cold feet re: the stranding of multibillion-dollar investments in oil fields, as well as pipelines and other capital equipment.

Though some might argue that this is like the ads that feature cows exhorting us to eat more chicken, there’s no doubt that the market will at some point turn away from coal, oil and gas, and towards clean energy in its many forms; in fact, that process has already begun.  Nonetheless, I grant that the message may have more meaning if it comes from an (at least ostensibly) independent source.

I’m reminded that Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 U.S. presidential election precisely when she called almost half of the voters “deplorable” (for their appalling lack of moral judgement).  If I were she, and for some weird reason I wanted to communicate that point, the very last thing I would do is say it myself.