I remember reading a study from Japan a few years ago. It related the country’s percent GDP investment in renewables vs power consumption of the population over time. The conclusion was, that the more GDP they invested in renewable power generation, the more overall power was available, which the population consumed.

Old power sources didn’t go away. There is just another source available. It’s an addictive effect, not a replacement of power sources.

I tried searching for the article again a few months later, but I couldn’t find it… I wouldn’t be surprised if it was removed or hidden, considering it is objective evidence against being able to buy our way of this problem.

Utilities could (and should) have started planning for this years ago

I agree, but I have had the idea for a while that power companies are in bed with big oil. Sure, they sell a lot of gas to us for our cars, but they sell A LOT more fuel to utility companies. Makes sense that they prioritize staying in business over anything else. As we move to electric cars, it’s like the most unsurprising thing that oil companies would focus on power companies, especially since power companies almost always operate monopolistically.

Absolute best bet is governments use up all reserves over a few hundred years keeping us at a sane threshold (please don’t yell at me we are past that, not my point). Very few countries ate going to keep anything beyond some strategic reserves. Expecting global altruism like that isn’t going to happen in the time frame it would need to happen. Shits going to be cataclysmic before the general population is really willing to change.