Sean's Russia Blog

One daunting challenge to addressing climate change is to kick our addiction to hydrocarbons. But this is easier said than done. Hydrocarbons remain the fuel of modernity. And a transition to renewable energy requires massive state intervention. How do we get from our carbon-based present to a green future? Especially in regions like Eastern Europe and Chin, that still rely heavily on oil, gas and coal. In this third event in our series, Eurasian Environments, the Eurasian Knot has paired Pawel Cyzyak, an expert on energy in Eastern Europe, and Zhaojin Zeng, an economic historian of China, to discuss the legacies of state socialist economies, the challenges of transitioning to renewables, their past and present reliance on Russia, the role of geopolitics, and how a turn to EVs presents different challenges, especially as electricity is still generated by coal. Guests:Zhaojin Zeng is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History, Philosophy and Geography at Texas A&M University. His first book proje