Fear – why it’s the rational emotion of our time

March 30, 2026 — 4:00am

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Last year, historian Adam Tooze wrote about the tendency to describe the history of energy as a “series of transitions”. In this story, wood gave way to coal, coal to gas, and now fossil fuels are being replaced by renewables. This allows us to believe in history as a tale of progress. In turn, it is that story of progress which allows us to believe that whatever we are now living through, however troubling it might seem, is a necessary step – because soon we will arrive at a better destination.

The problem is that these “transitions” never actually happen. (Tooze is drawing on the work of historian Jean-Baptiste Fressoz). The history of energy use is that energy sources are never actually replaced. Instead, they are added to each other. In fact, Tooze writes, the world now uses more wood than it has at any point in its past – and the same goes for coal.

The story we tell ourselves – one that makes us feel better about our own time – is false. Suddenly, Australia’s current policy of continuing to export fossil fuels reads differently: not as a stop on the way to somewhere better but as yet another step on the way to somewhere worse.

All this came to mind as I was considering the fact that, a decade ago, this seemed like the era of climate doom. Around then, I attended a festival where novelist Junot........

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