s&#x2F;equilibrium&#x2F;steady state&#x2F;g<p>Equilibrium and steady state are two very different things. Strictly, the path we eventually want to tread is not even steady state, since internal variables can change dramatically (e.g. switching from fossil fuels to nuclear&#x2F;solar&#x2F;wind). Only the large-scale metrics need to be steady state.<p>To give an analogy, the earth&#x27;s climate is far from equilibrium (same temperature everywhere), but it is fairly close to steady state (same average temperature over long periods of time).