
doi: 10.53288/0404.1.08
The abolition of fossil fuels requires more than new fuels to power modern pleasures. It also requires new subjectivities. Petro-people need to become solar subjects. Becoming solar subjects, and not just consumers of solar energy, means nurturing solarity as a way of life, a geo-theology. Theology might seem an odd emphasis for energy studies, but fossil fuels have a strong cosmological dimension that helps explain their grip on modern publics. The fossil sacred is capitalist work – that which moves matter to make a profit – in a presumed world of scarcity and struggle. The fossil evil is waste. Solarity is well-suited as a counter-theology to fossil fuels, as the sun neatly reverses fossil values. The sun is sinful according to fossil theology, offering itself abundantly with no concern for efficiency. As a political strategy, solar abundance – and not reduction – is also best equipped to counter the pleasures of fossil-fueled life. The ascetic approach to energy finds morality in foregoing energy expenditure, while solar abundance encourages better spending and giving. Both involve limits, but in worlds of abundance, the goal is to limit dangerous accumulation, and to appreciate how cooperative spending and sharing can generate more well-being.
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