Power, patriarchy and petroleum: Why imagining a world beyond fossil fuels is so damn hard

US President Donald Trump doesn’t just deny climate change — he mocks it. During his renewed presidency, he’s doubling down. He sneers at wind turbines, brags about “beautiful clean coal,” and promises to “drill, baby, drill,” as if he’s offering freedom — not disaster. But this isn’t just political theatre. It’s performance with a purpose: a reassertion of dominance — over nature, over science, over anyone who dares to challenge the fossil-fuelled status quo.

Let’s be clear: 86 per cent of the emissions currently trapped in our atmosphere — blanketing the planet and fuelling floods, fires, deadly storms and rising seas — come from just three things: oil, gas and coal. This is not a vague environmental problem. This is a fossil fuel problem.

This is more than energy policy. It’s ideology. The Trump administration is once again a fossil-fuel dream team: oil lobbyists, coal barons and climate deniers working hand-in-glove to dismantle environmental protections and flood the world with more oil, gas and coal. Their goal isn’t energy security or economic freedom. It’s control. Over land. Over people. Over the future.

Fossil fuels have always been about more than powering cars or heating homes. They are the foundation of a political and cultural system that rewards exploitation and punishes restraint. The global fossil-fuel industry has made $2.8 billion in profit every day for the past 50 years. That kind of money doesn’t just buy influence — it builds a worldview. One where nature is a thing to be conquered, not cared for. Where profit is the measure of progress. Where those closest to the land — Indigenous Peoples, women and racialized communities — are treated as obstacles, not leaders.

That’s why the return of Trump is so dangerous. His administration is not just pro-fossil fuel — it is a full-blown extraction regime. It’s the politics of domination repackaged as patriotism. We saw this in his first term: the gutting of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the opening of sacred Indigenous lands to drilling, the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, and the relentless attacks on climate science. Now, we’re seeing it again — with renewed speed and greater confidence.

And it’s not just environmental protections under attack. In a sign of how deeply the fossil fuel worldview runs, even previously progressive sectors like the tech industry are being pulled backward — tech leaders who once championed innovation are now funding political movements aimed at suppressing diversity, equity, inclusion and climate action. Empowered, diverse communities — communities that value cooperation over conquest — are seen as a threat to the fossil-fuel political economy. That’s why those in power are working to roll back civil rights and silence those demanding changes. In their eyes, the fewer voices challenging the system, the easier it is to keep exploiting people and the planet without consequence.

And here’s the deeper truth: the fossil fuel system is designed to perpetuate dependence. If you rely on oil and gas to heat your home, drive your car and feed your family, you remain tethered to the system — and it keeps generating profits. That’s why they’re fighting so hard. Because the new energy systems — based on wind, sun and community control — aren’t just cleaner and safer. They’re harder to monopolize. No one owns the sun. No one controls the wind. And that makes renewables an existential threat to those who want to maintain dependence, power and profits.

But here’s what they won’t say out loud: they’re fighting so hard because they know they’re losing.

The world is changing. Renewable energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels in most regions. We have the technology to replace the vast majority of fossil fuel uses. And we’ve already extracted more than we can safely burn. The problem isn’t capability — it’s political will.

Sixteen countries are now participating in a global initiative to negotiate a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, a proposed international framework that would end fossil fuel expansion and support countries in building a just transition. From Indigenous-led solar cooperatives in Canada to energy commons in Europe and Latin America, communities are showing what post-carbon leadership looks like. This is real momentum — not just policy, but a shift in imagination.

Fossil fuels are also killing us. A recent study estimates that more people die premature deaths each year from air pollution caused by fossil fuels than from any other single cause — about eight million people annually. The fossil fuel industry is stealing our children to asthma. It is stealing lives and livelihoods as more of the planet suffers under lethal heat. And perhaps, most insidiously, it has stolen our imagination — our capacity to envision a world without being dependent on their oil, gas, and coal, and the political structures they uphold.

A recent Oxford study shows that more than 80 per cent of the public now understands that climate change is happening and supports climate action — but most people remain silent.  And that silence is exactly what the fossil fuel system depends on. Right now, as the world burns, drowns and gasps for air, what we need most is not passivity — it’s courage. Speaking out — about the reality of the crisis and the possibilities of the future — is an act of resistance. It’s an act of imagination.

We’ve been taught to believe that fossil fuels are inevitable. That their grip on our economies and politics is unshakable. But that’s a myth — and like all myths of power, it’s crumbling. A post-fossil world is not only possible — it’s already being built. The challenge now is to scale it, defend it and organize against those trying to drag us backward.

That starts with naming what we’re up against. Trump’s energy agenda isn’t about freedom — it’s about domination. It’s about preserving obscene profits for the few, while communities pay the price in wildfires, floods, poisoned air and rising inequality. It’s about maintaining a system that sees both people and the planet as disposable.

This isn’t just about emissions. It’s about power. We’re not just fighting climate change — we’re confronting a system where fossil fuels are entwined with a specific identity: one that valorizes domination, control and a nostalgic return to traditional hierarchies. Political theorist Cara Daggett calls this phenomenon petro-masculinity — a cultural formation where fossil fuel consumption becomes a way to assert masculine authority in response to perceived threats from climate action and gender equality. In this context, the aggressive defence of fossil fuels isn’t solely about economics — it’s also about upholding a social order. Challenging fossil fuel dominance means challenging the identities and values that sustain it.

So, talk about it. Talk about climate change. Question the ads pushed by the oil and gas industry that fearmonger about scarcity and price while trying to connect fossil fuel use to “freedom.” Demand that elected officials support climate action and a fossil fuel phase-out to keep us safe and protect what we love. Join the movement calling for a Fossil Fuel Treaty. Oppose new fossil fuel projects and infrastructure being proposed in your community. And most importantly, dream big.

One of the worst crimes of the fossil fuel industry is that it has used its bloated profits and relentless lobbying to steal our imagination. So, let’s take it back. Imagine a world that is cleaner and safer. Where our kids don’t get asthma, our water isn’t toxic, and our cities aren’t choked in smoke from terrifying fires. Imagine that one day we’ll be telling our children we used to power our homes and cars with gas — and they’ll barely believe us, because the world will be such a different place.

Tzeporah Berman BA, MES, LLD (honoris causa) is an award-winning climate policy expert who has held many positions advising governments and designing local and global advocacy campaigns. She is the co-founder and international program director at Stand.earth and the founder and chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.