From Guns & Steel to Grids & Batteries: A History-Informed View of Climate Action - CleanTechnica

The article "From Guns & Steel to Grids & Batteries: A History-Informed View of Climate Action" argues that effective decarbonization hinges primarily on market creation, followed by institutional reform, with cultural or moral shifts coming last. Drawing on historical analyses from works like Jared Diamond’s *Guns, Germs, and Steel* and Acemoglu and Robinson’s *Why Nations Fail*, the author emphasizes that technological progress and societal transformation arise from active markets where goods and innovations are produced, exchanged, and improved at scale. Diamond’s insights highlight how early market conditions—such as agricultural surpluses enabling specialization and trade—drove technological dominance, while the rapid adoption of European goods by Indigenous societies post-contact illustrates how markets can reshape societies faster than formal governance. Building on this, *Why Nations Fail* underscores the role of inclusive versus extractive institutions in either fostering or stifling market expansion and economic growth. The article connects this to climate action by explaining that slow decar