viii PROLOGUE
and popular. During the CoP 24 in Katowice, the centre of coal in Europe,
someone half my age spoke truth to power. Greta Thunberg said that our
political representatives have failed us and that we must act now to address
the climate crisis for today’s youth and the vulnerable to have livable futures.
Those three decadal conjunctures of material configuration, institutional context and relative privilege reveal a great deal about the spatiotemporally contingent nature of how we experience the deeply entangled
climate and energy crises. My concern with these contemporary crises has
continued and increased in my transition from childhood to mid-career
researcher; and so has the associated urgency. We live in a time of many
crises—local, national and global; short-, medium- and long-term; social,
environmental and economic—and the heart of each one is political. This
book concerns the greatest crisis of our times, which spans generations. It
is about addressing the drivers and impacts of climate change, which
means rapidly decarbonising our energy systems, and deeply changing
whom they benefit (Bickerstaff et al. 2013). This is a mammoth task with
competing stakes, too vital to be left to privileged sets of decision-makers
who have already failed to safeguard and secure public interest for decades,
and much too big for a modest book. Rather, its envisaged contribution is
to show how to make this crisis visible for what it truly is—a crisis of
accountability—opening up space to discuss and establish anew (Dowdle
2017) the terms for more accountable governance to enable sustainable
energy transitions. For the purpose of this book, the term ‘sustainable
energy transitions’ signifies changes to our energy systems that enhance
both decarbonisation and social equity.
I undertake this ambitious task in good company. That of countless
excellent scientists past and present who have furnished a rigorous basis in
knowledge and whose work I draw on—we already know much of what
we need to know for sustainable energy transitions. Your company as a
reader, as someone interested in understanding and addressing this crisis—this book is accessible to laypersons and experts, and aspires to be an
engaging, inspiring read. The company of environmental governance
researchers who have spent a great deal of their eminent careers examining
various aspects of energy transitions and kindred subjects, which span
many sectors and domains. And finally of the many people these colleagues
and I have interacted with in the field—for our research is empirically
informed—who help keep our work grounded and relevant. This
and popular. During the CoP 24 in Katowice, the centre of coal in Europe,
someone half my age spoke truth to power. Greta Thunberg said that our
political representatives have failed us and that we must act now to address
the climate crisis for today’s youth and the vulnerable to have livable futures.
Those three decadal conjunctures of material configuration, institutional context and relative privilege reveal a great deal about the spatiotemporally contingent nature of how we experience the deeply entangled
climate and energy crises. My concern with these contemporary crises has
continued and increased in my transition from childhood to mid-career
researcher; and so has the associated urgency. We live in a time of many
crises—local, national and global; short-, medium- and long-term; social,
environmental and economic—and the heart of each one is political. This
book concerns the greatest crisis of our times, which spans generations. It
is about addressing the drivers and impacts of climate change, which
means rapidly decarbonising our energy systems, and deeply changing
whom they benefit (Bickerstaff et al. 2013). This is a mammoth task with
competing stakes, too vital to be left to privileged sets of decision-makers
who have already failed to safeguard and secure public interest for decades,
and much too big for a modest book. Rather, its envisaged contribution is
to show how to make this crisis visible for what it truly is—a crisis of
accountability—opening up space to discuss and establish anew (Dowdle
2017) the terms for more accountable governance to enable sustainable
energy transitions. For the purpose of this book, the term ‘sustainable
energy transitions’ signifies changes to our energy systems that enhance
both decarbonisation and social equity.
I undertake this ambitious task in good company. That of countless
excellent scientists past and present who have furnished a rigorous basis in
knowledge and whose work I draw on—we already know much of what
we need to know for sustainable energy transitions. Your company as a
reader, as someone interested in understanding and addressing this crisis—this book is accessible to laypersons and experts, and aspires to be an
engaging, inspiring read. The company of environmental governance
researchers who have spent a great deal of their eminent careers examining
various aspects of energy transitions and kindred subjects, which span
many sectors and domains. And finally of the many people these colleagues
and I have interacted with in the field—for our research is empirically
informed—who help keep our work grounded and relevant. This