Futurology

Sunk cost fallacy. They have already invested so much in fossil fuel infrastructure that they feel that if they give up now, they would have wasted all their money.

The fact that that the money is wasted whether they pivot to renewables or not something they consider. In fact, if they can lever their existing infrastructure they can be much more competitive than any new renewable energy provider.

If you depend on oil companies for "rationality":

That cheapest new energy is solar then wind gives the oil company a negative impact on its existing assets. Suppressing renewables through bribery/politics keeps consumers addicted to their product, and keeps prices high. Nationalizing oil companies, without compensation for shareholders, is both appropriate punishment, and only way to stop their lobbying corrupting democracy.

Unfortunately, I have to second this statement. I think humans just can’t anticipate well. In combination with money, a rare event will be neglected or ignored. Think of IT security or pandemic countermeasures for example.

I live in Germany. Europes devil is water. Lots of water from the sky. Rain the volume of an entire year within 2-3 days.

In 2021, in a hilly area many small villages were washed away from a used to be small tiny river. Did people learn? No.

Since that event, we had several more heavy rain events in Europe that either flushed town or drowned entire areas. Last one this summer in Spain Castillia.

Do people learn? No, still the right-wing parties in Germany are on upswings. And so the Governments.

Kremlin propaganda (in various ways, sometimes in free natural gaz) isn't to be forgotten.