the.com/energy crisis
When the lights, the bills, and the geopolitics all spike at once.
means A shortage or sharp price spike in fuel or power supplies, severe enough to disrupt economies and everyday life.
from A straightforward 20th-century compound — 'energy' from Greek 'energeia' (activity, work in action) and 'crisis' from Greek 'krisis' (a turning point, a decision). The phrase itself snapped into common use in the early 1970s, when oil embargoes sent prices soaring and gas lines around city blocks made the abstract idea of 'energy' suddenly, viscerally urgent.
- 1970s origin
- OPEC embargo of 1973 quadrupled oil prices overnight
- root cause
- Usually supply shock, not actual lack of energy
- modern twist
- Now triggered by pipelines, wars, and weather, not just oil
- silver lining
- Every crisis accelerates the shift to alternatives