How energy costs and urban policies are reshaping global political narratives

The field of energy geography is being urged to redefine its priorities in response to growing global crises. A new commentary "Is energy geography running out of steam? published in Dialogues in Human Geography critiques the sub-discipline’s current trajectory and calls for a more direct engagement with real-world political and socio-ecological challenges. The author argues that energy geography must shift focus from internal disciplinary positioning to addressing external political disruptions, especially the global surge in right-wing populism influenced by energy policy discontent.

This intervention arrives amid intensifying climate, political, and social upheavals that have made energy a central axis in debates over governance, equity, and national identity. Rather than debating its marginal status in the broader geography discipline, the author asserts that energy geography should take on a renewed agenda - one that addresses energy's role in fueling widespread dissatisfaction with mainstream governance and the emergence of regressive political movements.

How have energy policies fueled political discontent?

The study highlights that modern energy policy, particularly in urban contexts, has become a flashpoint for public discontent, often exploited by populist political factions. Haarstad identifies rising electricity costs, fuel taxes, congestion charges, and urban densification as central catalysts for civic protests and electoral backlash. In countries across Europe, these measures have disproportionately affected lower-income groups, especially those living in suburban and rural areas who rely on automobiles and lack access to public transportation.

Rather than stemming from ignorance or denial of climate change, much of this discontent is grounded in perceived unfairness and exclusion from the decision-making process. According to findings from the DEMOCLIM project, which investigated urban climate protests in Scandinavian cities, protestors frequently cited opaque governance structures and the framing of their concerns as “backward” by mainstream environmental discourse as key grievances.

This exclusion has provided fertile ground for right-wing populist leaders who frame themselves as champions of the “ordinary citizen.” Slogans like “Trump digs coal” and narratives warning of a “war on cars” have proven effective in portraying environmental measures as elitist and disconnected from everyday hardships. These discourses, the article contends, actively undermine democratic institutions and policies aimed at sustainability, social justice, and climate mitigation.

What role should energy geography play in responding?

Haarstad challenges the notion that energy geography is peripheral within the discipline of geography, arguing instead that it is already central due to the field’s relevance to urgent global issues. He critiques recent attempts to reposition energy geography based on internal academic recognition, contending that such efforts distract from more critical concerns, namely, how to interpret and respond to the political weaponization of energy issues.

The article insists that energy geography should reposition itself not by seeking disciplinary validation, but by addressing real-world power struggles and the narratives surrounding energy transitions. This includes studying how energy-related discourses are mobilized by right-wing populists to erode democratic norms and delay decarbonization policies. According to Haarstad, the failure to design spatially just and transparent energy transitions is partly to blame for this surge in reactionary politics.

The discipline, he argues, should not be content with retrospection but must develop conceptual tools and forward-looking frameworks that empower communities, inform more equitable energy policies, and help counteract regressive populist agendas. This includes a renewed focus on distributive justice, inclusive governance, and narrative framing in energy transitions, especially as energy choices increasingly signal broader ideological affiliations.

What path forward for the sub-discipline?

Energy geography must evolve beyond introspection and contribute meaningfully to solving the intertwined socio-political and environmental crises of the present, the study clearly warns. This includes tracking how populist narratives exploit energy policies, proposing equitable alternatives, and reinforcing democratic engagement in climate action.

The future of energy geography, he argues, lies not in defending its place within academic institutions, but in reimagining its function as a field that can inform better policy, foster public understanding, and support transitions that are both sustainable and socially legitimate. Rather than running out of steam, energy geography has an opportunity to reposition itself as a dynamic, action-oriented discipline - one that helps society confront the complex terrain of energy justice, political polarization, and ecological survival.

With energy at the heart of global crises and populist backlash, the article outlines a critical moment for academic disciplines to rise to the occasion. Whether energy geography can meet this challenge will depend on its willingness to pivot from academic self-referentiality to direct engagement with the pressing realities shaping public life and planetary futures.