I love Stross' fiction, but found this post unconvincing.

His Ehrlichian claim that that "if [the fossil fuel economy] doesn't stop we're all going to starve to death within a generation or so" is laughable.

Solar is great, but I don't believe that access to energy is the limiting factor when it comes to the major issues of today.

The article seemed to contend that 2025 in particular is special. If this year will go down in history for anything (which I doubt it will -- felt like a continuation of trends to me), it might be the beginning of fascism in the USA. Stross alludes to that but doesn't focus on it.