MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Fossil Fuel Jobs Will Disappear, So Now What?

President Joe Biden takes climate change seriously, calling it an “existential threat.” His executive orders are reducing oil and gas exploration on public lands, promoting electric vehicles for federal fleets, and more. The federal charge is being led by John Kerry, the United States’ first special presidential envoy for climate, and Gina McCarthy, the first White House national climate adviser, but the whole Cabinet is talking about climate in an unprecedented and impressive way.

Fossil fuel companies and go-slow politicians predictably chant that this perspective will “destroy the economy” and “kill jobs.” The first is absurd. Which is more expensive — a cleaner, healthier economy powered by renewable energy, or extreme weather and tens of millions of climate refugees? Doing nothing would cost much more than doing something.

About the Author

Andrew Winston (@andrewwinston) is a globally recognized expert on how to build resilient, profitable companies that help people and the planet thrive. Named to Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2020 as a “thinker to watch,” his latest book, due out in fall 2021, is Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take (Harvard Business Review Press).

Hunter Lovins (@hlovins) is president and founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions, and a professor of sustainable management at Bard College’s MBA in Sustainability Program.

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