Breaking down how public ownership can transform our energy system, providing a faster and cheaper path to 100% clean energy.
Followers of The BREAK—DOWN may remember our very first episode, in which Adrienne spoke to Brett Christophers about the many and varied reasons why—despite all the hype about how cheap renewables have become—the transition to renewable energy will fail if left to the market. What that interview didn't leave us with, however, was an answer to the obvious question: if not the market, then what?
Here to make the case for a simple but radical solution are Chris Hayes and Melanie Brusseler, the Chief Economist and US Programme Director, respectively, at Common Wealth, a progressive UK based think tank and founding partner of The BREAK—DOWN. In today’s episode, Chris and Melanie describe how public ownership can transform our energy system, providing not only a faster and cheaper path to 100% clean energy, but also the foundations of a more just and democratic economy overall.
Melanie Brusseler is US Programme Director at Common Wealth, where she researches green democratic planning.
Chris Hayes is Chief Economist at Common Wealth. Chris studied at the Stockholm School of Economics, and has previously worked at the OECD.
Further Reading
Melanie Brusseler et al., "The Greatest Generation: How Public Power Can Deliver Net Zero Faster, Fairer and Cheaper", Common Wealth.
Daniela Gabor, "The (European) Derisking State", Center for Open Science.
Hamza Hamouchene, "How Renewables Corporations Are Exploiting The Global South", The New Internationalist.
Dieter Helm, "Luck is not an energy policy - the cost of energy, the price cap and what to do about it". Available here.