The Iran War Is Forcing an Energy Transition. But What Kind?

The war is pushing oil- and gas-importing Asian countries toward renewables. The trouble is, they’re also turning to coal.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is losing sleep. That’s what he told a crowd on Juju Island earlier this week while discussing the consequences, for his economy, of the U.S. and Israel’s attacks on Iran. “This latest war in the Middle East has made it clear that the energy transition—that is, the major shift to renewable energy—is no longer a national and historical task that can be postponed,” he said. Continuing to rely on imported fossil fuels, he warned, “makes the future very dangerous.”

It’s not uncommon for climate advocates to pitch renewables as a boon for national security: No one controls the sun and the wind, after all, and, once solar and wind farms are installed, the electricity they provide does not rely on volatile global energy markets. America’s and Israel’s disastrous war of choice against Iran and neighboring countries is helping prove the point. Iran has kept the Strait of Hormuz—the world’s most important passageway for oil, gas, and a host of other vital commodities—closed for the last month. Prices at the pump have climbed to more than $4 a gallon in the U.S. Life here otherwise, however, although pricier, has so far continued more or less as normal. That’s partially because we’re a net exporter of oil and a major gas producer. Asian countries, many of which are net importers of both oil and gas, face a much deeper crisis. Some 90 percent of the oil and gas that usually flows through the Strait is bound for the region. South Korea, for instance, imports 94 percent of its energy; nearly two-thirds of its crude oil comes from the Persian Gulf. While policies to boost renewables and cut oil and gas use have rapidly fallen out of favor in the U.S., some of the world’s largest and most dynamic economies are increasingly treating them as necessities for economic stability and national........

© New Republic