"Struggles for control of energy have had a crucial impact on the historical development of capitalism as a global set of social relations. With the world’s energy system on the verge of far-reaching change, it comes up for grabs...The transition process to a new energy system is, in effect, the next round of global class struggle over control of key means of production and subsistence...
Class struggle is inherently uncertain, however, and this is the main uncertainty of the transition process. Who will bring the transition about and for what purpose? Who will benefit, and at whose expense?
...We are in the early stages of what is likely to be a lengthy and complex struggle to determine whether capital will be successful in its efforts to force labor (i.e. people throughout the world, to bear the costs of building a new energy system, or whether labor (i.e. social and ecological struggles throughout the world) is able to force capital to bear these costs. This struggle is already becoming central in shaping social relationships, and is likely to become ever more so in the coming years." ~Koly Abramsky, Sparking a Worldwide Energy Revolution: Social Struggles in the Transition to a Post-Petrol World
