“Just trust me, bro”: The consummative mood of reactionary decarbonization

This intervention introduces and describes the “decarbonization bro,” a subject of green masculinity who demonstrates a “consummative desire” for rapid infrastructure deployment. Unlike far-right ecologies that defend a nostalgic green past, the decarb bro seeks a technocratic future where participatory democracy is sidelined in favor of efficiency and completion. I describe the decarb bro with reference to permitting reform debates in the United States, where pipelines for both oil and carbon capture are sought to be accelerated. Consummative desire shows how ambient “ecofascism” intersects with capitalist imperatives.