This Changes Everything

“Overcoming the Ideological Block to the Next Economy” (Pages 96-103)

Klein discusses the importance of the public sector in providing the infrastructure we need for a mass shift to renewable energy. She discusses the case of Germany’s second city, Hamburg, whose public voted in 2013 for re-nationalisation of energy providers. Klein says the key driving force here was green thinking; people wanted to be part of a speedy transition to renewable energy, and saw that having energy as a public resource, not run for profit, was crucial to that.

In Germany,we’ve seen the world’s most rapid shift to wind and solar energy. In 2013, 25% of Germany’s electricity supply came from electric, by comparison with only 4% for the U.S. Germany has set ambitions targets, aiming for 55-69% renewable energy by 2035. 

Klein describes this as a rejection and reversal of the neoliberal politics of the 90s and a turn against privatisation, based in a desire for renewable energy, which can be most quickly and efficiently provided on a mass-scale by nationalisation. She points to a similar example, in Boulder, Colorado.

She also points to Austria and Norway, where pubic-run utilities are linked to some of the highest proportions of renewable energy uptake and suggests “a clear and compelling relationship between public ownership and the ability of communities to get off dirty energy” (99).