Sandy Smith-Nonini

Putin’s war has exposed the fact that nations that lack access to affordable energy and those that are most dependent on fossil fuels are vulnerable.

These skirmishes illustrate how deeply interwoven petroleum politics has become with the culture and geopolitics of Russian’s foreign policy. This is not the Cold War.  Oil dependence is Putin’s bane, and ours.

If electricity is to be the centerpiece of a renewable future, we have much work to do. We should start by demanding accountable public oversight of electric systems.

While climate change has dropped out of the news in our new corona-verse, in this column I argue that the COVID crisis is indeed a climate crisis, and that the United States needs a Green New Deal approach if we are to reopen our economy safely, without incurring waves of new COVID-19 infections that will force future lockdowns.

Puerto Ricans were plunged in the dark once more in January, this time due to an earthquake that severely damaged a major power plant near the southern coast.  Recurring tremors led to thousands sleeping in the open for weeks. The blackout, while temporary, was ominously reminiscent of the long blackout following Hurricane María two years ago, which left some residents without power for nearly a year.