Icarus Is Burning: Why True Energy Dominance Means Looking Beyond Fossil Fuels

The wildfires raging in Los Angeles are not just a wake-up call—they are an alarm bell we must heed. Yet, as the planet burns and the stakes grow higher, the incoming administration is doubling down on policies that pour gasoline on the flames.

President-elect Donald Trump’s renewed calls for "Energy Dominance" and a "Drill Baby Drill" agenda signal a return to fossil fuel expansion, undermining global efforts to curb emissions and address the climate crisis. These policies are not just shortsighted—they are catastrophic. By prioritizing planet-warming fossil fuels over clean energy solutions, we risk locking ourselves into a future defined by more extreme weather, destruction, and loss.

We are like Icarus, flying too close to the sun, ignoring the warnings that science has made painfully clear. The fires in Los Angeles are not "natural disasters." They are man-made. They are the predictable outcomes of human-made climate neglect, exacerbated by decades of political inaction and corporate greed. Continuing down this path, as the incoming administration proposes, will only fan the flames.

These flames don’t just consume California. Florida faces its own battle against intensifying hurricanes and rising seas, fueled by the same warming planet. Wildfires and hurricanes may seem like unconnected disasters, but rather, they are two sides of the same crisis, wreaking havoc on homes, communities, and entire economies. In both states, the devastating cost of inaction is becoming impossible to ignore.

Take insurance, for example. Both Florida and California are grappling with an unprecedented crisis in coverage. Rising premiums and insurer pull outs are leaving homeowners without protection—an undeniable consequence of worsening "unnatural disasters." Whether it’s homes consumed by fire or destroyed by floods, the burden falls on families, communities, and taxpayers. Every dollar spent on recovery is a dollar we could have invested in prevention, resilience, and a sustainable future.

The stakes are clear: unchecked fossil fuel expansion will not only exacerbate wildfires, hurricanes, and rising seas—it will endanger the very fabric of our communities. The fires in Los Angeles, and the storms battering Florida, offer a grim preview of our near future if we fail to act. This is why the United States leadership, at the upcoming United Nations climate summit, COP30, in Brazil is more critical than ever.?

As nations gather to address the climate crisis, the U.S. must decide whether to lead the global transition to clean energy or fall further behind by clinging to outdated, polluting energy and policies warming our common home, our planet. The world cannot afford the latter.

Leadership at this moment demands more than slogans about "Energy Dominance." It requires true courage, innovation, and a commitment to safeguarding the future for generations to come. Policies that prioritize fossil fuels over clean energy are reckless, not dominant.?

They are, like the wings of Icarus, destined to fail under the heat of their own hubris.

Conservatives have long championed innovation, economic strength, and national security. By doubling down on outdated fossil fuel policies that pollute and warm our planet, we risk undermining these core conservative values.

Conservatives have also always valued stewardship—of our resources, our economy, and the future we leave to our children. Embracing clean energy innovation aligns with these principles. Investments in renewables not only create jobs and boost American energy independence but also ensure that families in states like California, Florida, and Texas won’t face the devastating consequences of unchecked climate change.

Instead, we must demand bold commitments to clean renewable energy, carbon reduction, and resilience-building at COP30 but also at local, national level and beyond.?

This isn’t just a fight for the planet—it’s a fight for our lives, our children’s lives, and the only home we have.

Let this cyclone inferno be a warning, not a sentence.?

Together, we can rise above the flames and the floods, rewriting the future for Icarus and for us all. The fate of Icarus doesn’t have to be our children’s. They deserve a future where they can soar!

Yoca Arditi-Rocha

Executive Director?| The CLEO Institute

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