The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future is an Ellsworth, Wisconsin-based environmentalist nonprofit that studies energy policy.

The group claims that modern economic growth is propped up by a combination of the use of fossil fuels, debt, and repeated fiscal stimulus by governments that results in environmental destruction. The group promotes a concept called “The Great Simplification” where economic growth ends due to exhaustion of resources and the inability to provide fiscal stimulus. ¹

The group published The Oil Drum, an energy analysis website that ceased operations in 2013. ²

Background

Nate Hagens founded the Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future in 2009. He previously worked on Wall Street until 2002 when he quit and gave his clients their money back to devote himself full time to the study of energy and ecology. In 2004, he enrolled at the University of Vermont and got a Ph.D. in natural resources. He helped launch The Oil Drum, an energy-analysis website run by the group which ceased operations in 2013. ³

Hagens hosts the environmental podcasts The Great Simplification and Frankly, which the institute publishes. ⁴

Policy Advocacy

The Great Simplification

The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future asserts that energy is the largest and most important input to the economy. The group claims that the hope of decoupling energy and materials from the economy is delusional and that the areas of the world that are decoupling energy and GDP, such as the U.S. and Europe, are simply exporting energy-intensive industries to Asia. Finally, the nonprofit claims the cheap energy has led to a more complex economic structure. To fund all of this and prevent economic crashes, governments print money and use debt to stimulate consumption. ⁵

The nonprofit claims this has led to the creation of an economic system that is a mindless, energy fed, carbon-dioxide-emitting superorganism. ⁶

The group asserts that this economic model will come to an end sometime this century as conventional fuel production peaks and declines, which it claims will bring an end to economic growth. There will be a sharp contraction in economic activity comparable to the Great Depression in the 1930s that will bring about “The Great Simplification.” ⁷

The nonprofit recommended shedding what it calls frivolous consumption and getting people back on the land, ending industrial agriculture. The group also urges local production of goods and limiting international trade to luxury products. Finally, the nonprofit recommends using less energy, not merely switching to a different form of energy. ^{8 9}

Economic Changes

The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future seeks to move away from taxing income and labor and tax non-renewable inputs such as hydrocarbons and minerals to promote a reduction in non-renewable economic inputs. ¹⁰

The group wanted to complement or replace the traditional economic metric of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with a measure based on well-being. ¹¹

“Net-Zero”

The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future claims that a focus on “net-zero” carbon emissions is misguided because it treats carbon emissions as the problem instead of a symptom of the core issue of ecological overshoot. The group claimed the economy and energy exploitation have devastated the environment and a focus on “net-zero” leaves the door open for a technological solution instead of cultural, value, and economic system change. The group believed that the world cannot grow economically while using less energy and less carbon. ¹²

Leadership

Nate Hagens is president of the Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future. ¹³

Joan M. Diamond, Brian L. Maschhoff, and Matt Kayhoe are board members. ¹⁴

Finances

According to its 2022 tax return, the Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future had $560,032 in revenue, $594,579 in expenses, and $356,552 in assets. ¹⁵

The group made a $40,000 grant to the Institute for Integrated Economic Research which also affirms a future “Great Simplification.” ^{16 17}

1. “Our Worldview.” Energy and Our Future. Accessed December 17, 2023. https://www.energyandourfuture.org/our-worldview/.
2. “The Oil Drum.” Energy and Our Future. Accessed December 17, 2023. https://www.energyandourfuture.org/the-oil-drum/.
3. Weyler, Rex. “Green Talks: Rex Weyler, Nate Hagens & the Great Simplification.” Greenpeace International, February 26, 2023. https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/58395/rex-weyler-nate-hagens-great-simplification/.
4. Weyler, Rex. “Green Talks: Rex Weyler, Nate Hagens & the Great Simplification.” Greenpeace International, February 26, 2023. https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/58395/rex-weyler-nate-hagens-great-simplification/.
5. Weyler, Rex. “Green Talks: Rex Weyler, Nate Hagens & the Great Simplification.” Greenpeace International, February 26, 2023. https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/58395/rex-weyler-nate-hagens-great-simplification/.
6. “Our Worldview.” Energy and Our Future. Accessed December 17, 2023. https://www.energyandourfuture.org/our-worldview/.
7. Weyler, Rex. “Green Talks: Rex Weyler, Nate Hagens & the Great Simplification.” Greenpeace International, February 26, 2023. https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/58395/rex-weyler-nate-hagens-great-simplification/.
8. Weyler, Rex. “Green Talks: Rex Weyler, Nate Hagens & the Great Simplification.” Greenpeace International, February 26, 2023. https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/58395/rex-weyler-nate-hagens-great-simplification/.
9. Montgomery, Elli. “The Great Simplification.” Columbia Friends Meeting Quakers, August 25, 2022. https://columbiafriendsmeeting.org/the-great-simplification/.
10. Montgomery, Elli. “The Great Simplification.” Columbia Friends Meeting Quakers, August 25, 2022. https://columbiafriendsmeeting.org/the-great-simplification/.
11.  Montgomery, Elli. “The Great Simplification.” Columbia Friends Meeting Quakers, August 25, 2022. https://columbiafriendsmeeting.org/the-great-simplification/.
12. Simons, Daniel. “Nate Hagens on the Dangers of Our Net Zero Obsession.” Matters Journal, November 16, 2023. https://mattersjournal.com/stories/nate-hagens-on-the-dangers-of-our-net-zero-obsession.
13. “Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed December 17, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261233189/202321659349301542/full.
14. “Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed December 17, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261233189/202321659349301542/full.
15. “Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed December 17, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261233189/202321659349301542/full.
16. “Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed December 17, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261233189/202321659349301542/full.
17. “About IIER.” Energy and stuff. Accessed December 17, 2023. https://www.energyandstuff.org/en/about-iier-0.