In an astoundingly predictable turn of events, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine seems to have provided a lucky break to the world's beleaguered fossil fuel industry. It seems the cries for peace and international solidarity can conveniently be translated into the language of burning more fossils, much to the industry's delight. The universe itself seems to be in league with fossil fuel magnates, disguised as geo-political strife. The fourth dimension’s theme could very well be "How to use global crises as a scapegoat to conveniently forget all inconvenient truths." Crises have always had uncanny timings. Ever since the environmentalists cranked up the heat, quite contrary to their general agenda of cooling down the earth, the fossil fuel industry found itself in a bit of a pickle. All those inconvenient truths about melting ice caps, extinct Polar Bears and super hurricanes seemed to paint a rather harsh picture. But, hey! Luck favors the brave, or in this case, the ones who fuel the world's SUVs. In what seems like a divine stroke of fortune, an escalating conflict in Ukraine has ensured that everyone's focus has conveniently shifted. Now no one is bothering about those insignificant bleats about climate change. It's all about energy security, energy independence, and the assurance that we can all continue sailing on our precious ocean of black gold. The fossil brigade's PR huddle has done a miraculous job of connecting the dots between instability in Eastern Europe and the urgent need to abandon all green pretenses. Although this connection might baffle logical minds, it seems to have struck a chord with those in power. They nod along wisely, making grave proclamations about the need to "maximize energy production." One must admire the wily nature of this fossil-fueled saga. It's almost Dickensian in its artful manipulation of societal concerns. One day we are getting sun hats for the polar bears, the next day we are being told that the only way to ward off impending doom is to delve deeper into the earth's crust and extract more of Mother Nature's old reserves. Politics, it seems, always leads back to the smell of burnished dinosaur remains. It doesn't matter how much we talk about solar panels or wind farms, it doesn't matter really. Once again, we see how global crises are used to justify more drilling, mining, and spilling. It's no longer about saving the planet. Nah, that's passé. What's new and trendy is ensuring the soot-fired bonfire of fossil fuel continues to burn bright. Interestingly, the plight of the environment continues to be a fiddly footnote in the grand narrative. War is important, yes. Global politics is critical, indeed. But amidst all the noise about fossil fuels and international strife, let's just hope that the polar bears have good swimming skills because they will certainly need them.