Will this oil shock push the world more toward renewables?

Summary

Marketplace Morning Report: “Will this oil shock push the world more toward renewables?”

Date: March 25, 2026
Host: Sabri Benishour (in for David Brancaccio)
Featured Guest: Jason Bordoff, Founding Director, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University

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Episode Overview

This episode tackles the impact of the ongoing oil shock, driven by Middle East conflict and resulting market instability, on the global movement towards renewable energy. Sabri Benishour and energy expert Jason Bordoff discuss whether current disruptions will accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, or if short-term needs will have countries doubling back on coal. The episode also highlights a landmark court verdict against Meta and updates on current U.S. rental trends.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Oil Shock and Energy Security

[00:55-01:42]

• Middle East conflict keeps oil markets volatile; the U.S. has proposed a ceasefire plan to Iran.
• Oil prices are just below $100/barrel, underscoring global reliance on fossil fuels.
• The situation reignites the debate: Will these shocks motivate nations to reduce fossil dependence?

2. Renewables as a Solution—or New Risk?

[01:44-02:54]

• Vulnerability of Fossil Fuels:
  “Oil and gas is priced in a global market. One of the best things that you can do to insulate your economy...is to reduce how much you use in the first place.”
  —Jason Bordoff [01:57]

• Electrification and Domestic Supply:
  Electrifying the economy and boosting domestic power sources (renewables, nuclear—and coal in some regions) can cushion countries from global oil shocks.

• Risks of a Renewables Transition:
  Renewables shift risks, not eliminate them—especially due to China's dominance (70–90%) in clean tech supply chains.
  “That doesn't mean we shouldn't have a transition, but we need to anticipate what those risks are and try to mitigate them.”
  —Jason Bordoff [02:30]

3. Diversification and Strategic Supply

[02:54-03:18]

• The U.S. and others are prioritizing diversification and local capacity for critical minerals, echoing decades-old energy security playbooks.
• President Trump’s administration is launching a strategic stockpile of essential minerals, similar to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

4. Lessons from the Past—Will Nations Accelerate Renewables?

[03:18-03:55]

• EU’s 2022 response to the Ukraine invasion included ramping up renewable investment; many look for a similar shift now.
• Historical lesson:
  “The largest reduction in fossil fuels as a share of the economy came in the decade after the Arab oil embargo, not in the decade after Paris agreement. Sometimes national security...can be a more powerful driver of policy action than environmental ones.”
  —Jason Bordoff [03:29]

5. The Coal Backslide: Short vs. Long-term Energy Choices

[03:55-04:37]

• Even with renewables talk, some countries (especially in Europe and Asia) are increasing coal use for emergency energy security.
• Bordoff emphasizes urgency:
  “In the near term, you got to do what you need to do to make sure that energy is available...Lives are at risk if we don't have energy. Emergency responses may include coal...The question is the longer term lessons we take.”
  —Jason Bordoff [04:07]

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Other Noteworthy Segments

Meta’s Landmark Penalty

[04:45-05:27]

• Meta is ordered to pay $375 million after being found liable for misleading users about safety and facilitating child exploitation.
• The verdict is a first in a wave of lawsuits over social media harms.

Rental Market Snapshot

[06:55-08:38]

• U.S. rents saw a slight uptick in March, reversing declining trends.
• Key insights:
  • Dense coastal cities like San Francisco see rent surges (one-bedroom at $3,790/mo) due to tech and AI hiring [07:34].
  • Sun Belt regions still have lower rents due to post-pandemic construction booms.
  • Multifamily housing is expanding in lower-density cities (Carolinas, Columbus, Indianapolis) [08:10].
  • Continued unaffordability in housing forces more young people to stay in rentals.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “Oil and gas is priced in a global market. One of the best things that you can do to insulate your economy...is to reduce how much you use in the first place.”
  —Jason Bordoff [01:57]

• “The eventual economy that might have a lot more low carbon energy comes with a different set of geopolitical risks.”
  —Jason Bordoff [02:30]

• “Sometimes national security and energy security concerns can be a more powerful driver of policy action than environmental ones.”
  —Jason Bordoff [03:29]

• “Lives are at risk if we don't have energy. Emergency responses may include coal...The question is the longer term lessons we take.”
  —Jason Bordoff [04:07]

• “Rents are hitting all time highs $3,790 a month for a typical one bedroom.”
  —Mitchell Hartman [07:34]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• [00:55] – Oil shock introduction and interview open
• [01:42] – Energy security through renewables/electrification
• [02:23] – Geopolitical risks of renewables
• [02:54] – Strategic stockpiling and diversification
• [03:18] – Accelerating renewable adoption post-shock
• [03:55] – Coal as a stopgap/short-term response
• [04:45] – Meta penalty verdict
• [06:55] – National rent trends and housing affordability

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Summary Flow & Tone

The episode maintains Marketplace’s signature brisk, fact-rich style—focusing on economic and policy realities, not speculation. The discussion with Jason Bordoff unpacks both the promise and pitfalls of a renewables pivot, marking a nuanced take on the messy, sometimes paradoxical responses to energy shocks. Segments on Meta’s legal battles and rental data lend bite-sized updates relevant to the business and consumer landscape.

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This summary omits advertisements and non-content chat. For more business and energy coverage, listen to the full episode.

Transcript

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[Sabri Benishour]

will this oil shock push the world further towards renewables or back towards coal? From Marketplace, I'm Sabri Benishour in for David Brancaccio. The US has reportedly sent Iran a 15 point plan to end the war in the Middle East. It sent the plan through Pakistan, according to Reuters. Iran has yet to respond. Oil is down a little from yesterday on that news, just below a hundred dollars a barrel. The disruptions from this conflict have made it very, very clear just how much the world is still dependent on fossil fuels. And one question emerging from it all is will this push countries to become less dependent on these fuels? For more on that, we are joined now by Jason Bordoff, Founding Director of the center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Good morning.

[Jason Bordoff]

Good morning. Thanks for having me on.

[Sabri Benishour]

Fossil fuels are clearly and notoriously vulnerable to geopolitical shocks. Does this shock in particular strengthen the case for renewable energy?

[Jason Bordoff]

I think this shock today is a reminder that oil and gas is priced in a global market. And one of the best things that you can do to insulate your economy to volatile oil and gas prices that are exposed to geopolitical risk is to reduce how much you use in the first place. And one way to do that is to electrify more of your economy and then reduce try to produce more of that electricity with domestic sources. Renewables could be nuclear power and for some parts of the world it's coal.

[Sabri Benishour]

Are renewables actually more secure than fossil fuels or do they just come with a different set of geopolitical risks?

[Jason Bordoff]

The eventual economy that might have a lot more low carbon energy comes with a different set of geopolitical risks. That doesn't mean we shouldn't have a transition, but we need to anticipate what those risks are and try to mitigate them. And one of the most significant is the fact that so many of the technologies you need for, for renewables and other forms of low carbon energy, China has a 70, 80, 90% dominant position in many of those technologies.

[Sabri Benishour]

What do we do about that? I mean, how do we deal with that?

[Jason Bordoff]

Try to diversify. That's always been the hallmark of energy security policies. To build more domestic capacity, which both sides of the aisle have put in place, industrial policy to do, and then buffers and resilience. The Trump administration has just announced it's going to try to build a strategic stockpile of critical minerals the way we have for oil. And depending on how that's done, that could be a useful thing to do.

[Sabri Benishour]

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU sped up investment in renewable energy. Do you think we will see something like that happen again this time?

[Jason Bordoff]

I think we probably should and might see something more significant to really take a transition toward a more electrified economy and to do much more with energy efficiency. We should remember that the largest reduction in fossil fuels as a share of the economy came in the decade after the Arab oil embargo, not in the decade after Paris agreement. And sometimes national security and energy security concerns can be a more powerful driver of policy action than environmental ones.

[Sabri Benishour]

Yeah. On the flip side, some European countries responded to that 2022 energy crisis by turning back to coal rather than clean energy. Could we see more of that?

[Jason Bordoff]

I think we will see more of that, particularly in Asia. And I think there's a time frame, there's a temporal dimension to this. In the near term, you got to do what you need to do to make sure that energy is available to people. You can homes. Lives are at risk if we don't have energy. And emergency responses may include coal and may need to include coal. The question is the longer term lessons we take. I think lots of countries are going to look to reduce their imports of energy and reduce their exposure to volatile oil and gas markets that come with geopolitical risk.

[Sabri Benishour]

Jason Bordoff is founding director of the center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Thank you so much.

[Jason Bordoff]

Thank you.

[Sabri Benishour]

Meta has been ordered to pay $375 million in penalties. A New Mexico jury found the company violated state law by misleading users about the safety of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and of enabling child sexual exploitation on those platforms. The verdict marks the first time a jury has ruled on these kinds of claims. Against Meta. The company is facing a wave of lawsuits over how its platforms affect young people's mental health. Meta says it will appeal.

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[Sabri Benishour]

Here is another data point from Inflation World that is not great for consumers. Rents edged up nationwide this month, according to rental marketplace Zumper. It wasn't a big jump 2.10of a percent in March for one bedrooms, a tenth of a percent for two bedrooms. But still it reverses the TRE over the past year or so, when Zumper's national rent index was falling month after month, led by rent deflation in regions like the south and West. Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman has more.

[Mitchell Hartman]

Let's start with where rents are up sharply. That's dense coastal cities where there's not much new housing supply or room to build, says Zumper's Crystal Chen.

[Rema Grace]

Like San Francisco, rents are hitting all

[Mitchell Hartman]

time highs $37.90 a month for a typical one bedroom. Tech stocks might be struggling, but as a driver of the rental market, tech is riding high.

[Rema Grace]

AI related hiring bringing high income renters back stronger return to office expectations bringing people to city centers.

[Mitchell Hartman]

Rents are still down sharply in the Sun Belt from Florida to Texas and Arizona, where a wave of migration after the pandemic led to a lot of new apartments getting built and flooding the market going forward. Robert Dietz at the national association of Home Builders expects more multifamily housing in

[Jason Bordoff]

lower density markets, secondary and tertiary cities, places like the Carolinas, Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis.

[Mitchell Hartman]

Rental demand is likely to stay strong because buying a house is so unaffordable.

[Marketplace Sponsor Announcer]

That means some people are going to

[Mitchell Hartman]

rent longer, particularly those younger households who are worried about the stagnant job market and getting saddled with a mortgage payment they can't afford. I'm Mitchell Hartman for Marketplace, and in

[Sabri Benishour]

New York, I'm Sabri Ben, ashore with the Marketplace morning report. From 8:00pm American Public Media.

[Rema Grace]

I'm Rema Grace. And this week on my podcast, this is Uncomfortable, we're looking at the rise of prediction markets where you can bet on everything from sports and pop culture to political headlines. A multi billion dollar industry that's growing at a time when more Americans are questioning the traditional paths to wealth. I feel like the kind of quote, unquote, American dream is sort of breaking down. Like, how could I possibly, you know, buy a home, be able to afford having a family? And then they're also going online and seeing people that are claiming to make all this money doing these alternative paths to wealth. Be sure to listen to this week's episode of this Is Uncomfortable on your favorite podcast app.