Things just simply don’t change all so much all so fast

https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/07/28/the-enduring-tyranny-of-oil/

It may seem hard to believe, but only 15 years ago many of us were talking confidently about “peak oil” . . .

Naive optimists or catastrophists or hyperbolists tend to project more change than is realistically possible.

The ship of state has enormous industrial, political, social, cultural, and economic momentum.

When progressives try to effectuate a leap forward the momentum, as well as the sentiment of the broad populace, tends to mitigate it or temper it or react against it. What the French Revolution was trying to do just did not stick. Ditto for the Russian Revolution. Ditto for the desired and much needed Green revolution.

There was (and remains) a worldwide preference for large, gas-guzzling SUVs and pickup trucks. In the developing world, it’s accompanied by an ever-expanding market for diesel-powered trucks and buses. Then there’s the global growth in air travel, sharply increasing the demand for jet fuel.

Uh, duh. It was just naive to think the trajectories would change radically within just decades.