The American Prospect recently reported that Trump’s energy blockade of Cuba could be made irrelevant with just an $8bn investment in renewable energy. That’s the amount that would be needed to build enough renewable energy to cover 93.4% of Cuba’s electricity generation needs.
Trump’s war of whim has collided with his anti-science, illogical effort to keep America dependent upon fossil fuels, and the unanticipated consequence is that it is likely to accelerate the move to clean energy.
Trump’s “energy platform” has been described as an “all-out attack on President Biden’s climate policies.” Once in office, he signed a repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act and abolished subsidies for solar panels, wind turbines, and EVs.
The market, however, operates independently of Trump’s fantasies. It turns out that even without subsidies, solar power is cheaper than other forms of electricity in most of the world. And now, with his insane war in Iran, he’s caused the price of fossil fuels to soar.
As the Prospect notes,
All this is sparking a stampede toward renewable energy and EVs around the world. In Britain, solar panel sales were up 78 percent last month, while heat pump sales were up 51 percent. In Germany, orders for heat pumps are surging. Chinese exports of EVs more than doubled last quarter. The French used-car seller Aramisauto reports its EV sales doubled in a month.
Nations that have invested in renewables are seeing them pay off. Germany has increased its solar installations by about 31 percent over the last year alone, according to Bloomberg, and that will reduce its gas consumption this summer by about 29 percent, or nine full-size LNG tankers. Spain is doing even better, with so much solar production that it has largely insulated itself from electricity price spikes afflicting much of the rest of Europe (where gas often determines the market price).
Meanwhile, China is benefiting from an immense investment in renewables, and is now the unquestioned leader in green technology.
A recent essay from Talking Points Memo considered the clean energy consequences of Trump’s stupidity.
In an article titled “As Trump Rants About Birds and Wind Turbines, the World Passes the US By,” Josh Marshall wrote about signs of America’s “decay, corruption and decline”–an observation triggered by an article recounting Egypt’s ambitious push to transition its electrical grid to renewables. Egypt is trying to increase the percentage of electricity it gets from renewables from 10% to 45%–what Marshall calls “a mind-bogglingly ambitious goal.”
But it’s not based on ideology or high-minded goals about limiting climate change or the situation you have in the U.S. where renewables — wind and solar — are somehow considered “woke.” Egypt doesn’t have that luxury, notwithstanding being geo-politically aligned with the major fossil fuel exporters. Fossil fuels are not only pricey, they make especially developing economies vulnerable to constant price shocks, whether it’s the Ukraine War, Iran War or the inflation spike coming out of COVID. Egypt is focused on wind power. And there’s no way to hit that ambitious two-year schedule without China, building China’s soft power and economic reach at the same time the U.S. seems determined to throw ours away….
Over the last year the Trump administration has incurred significant economic losses to shut down wind farm projects. So we’re literally throwing away money, walking away from almost completed projects because the people guiding national economic policy think this is somehow “owning” Joe Biden or the libs. On that front, it’s often not clear how much of this push is from the fossil fuel industry or anti-climate transition ideologues or just the pet obsessions of an increasingly deranged president who is obsessively opposed to wind power probably because he thinks offshore wind turbines are eyesores for his nearby properties.
There’s much more in both of the linked articles, and they are well worth reading, if depressing.
Not to be Debby Downer, but I think the ultimate outcome of the disaster that was the election of Donald Trump will be a significant and permanent loss of America’s global influence and stature. Even if we oust the idiots and cowards and kleptocrats that currently infest our government, even if we move to repair the immense harms done to science, civic equality and the rule of law, America is unlikely to continue its attraction for the “best and brightest” or to regain the trust of other countries.
Of course, it may be better for humanity as a whole if other nations around the globe “step up” and shoulder responsibility for human progress. It just hurts to see America’s enormous advantages wasted by a corrupt lunatic who owes his election to the remnants of the Confederacy…
We’ve all watched this together, Sheila. I had actually called an Indy company for a quote on solar energy until they removed the mandate. We know the Koch daddy and Duke Energy were behind killing that, so progress delayed.
It’s been everywhere with the words, “Progress is not always a good thing.”
Who stopped the advancement of Silicon Valley Bros? Who said, “We don’t need AI agents? I am sure the voices were loud calling for alternate energy stacks for the power hungry data centers, but some lobbying group prevented the Governors and POTUS to back off. It’s the same old story.
Zero planning in Washington. Zero foresight in Washington. The Democrats build it or start down the road of progress and then Republicans kill it. Do they present a solid replacement? Nope. All they can propose is a “construct.”
Our man Mitch was so happy about all the CAFOs he brought to the state from North Carolina. Our watersheds are now all polluted or contaminated. One month ago our community woke up to the taste of dirt in our tap water and blue-green algae in our local reservoir – also our source for drinking water. A simple AI search pointed to a ditch and a creek that is dumping manure, nitrogen, and phosphorus faster than the lake can process it. American Water blamed campers, horse trail, and ATV riders. LOL
Not one time has Indiana American Water explanied to the people that our water is all contaminated. Stage 5 is the worst of worst. Local powers have not even notched one item off the list of IDEM’s recommendations. Why? Because the Republicans gave all the powers to the farmers. Our local water supply is basically a retention pond for contaminants upstream. Who tends to be mostly owners of animal farms and other large farms that bought out smaller farmers – Republicans?
Any high schooler studying science could have predicted the pollution levels, but our politicians serve the few oligarchs (Farm Bureau) over their mass constituency.
p.s. My coffee for the past 3 weeks has a nice dirt chaser.
“Not to be Debby Downer, but I think the ultimate outcome of the disaster that was the election of Donald Trump will be a significant and permanent loss of America’s global influence and stature. Even if we oust the idiots and cowards and kleptocrats that currently infest our government, even if we move to repair the immense harms done to science, civic equality and the rule of law, America is unlikely to continue its attraction for the “best and brightest” or to regain the trust of other countries.”
This paragraph sums up all previous blog posts and comments along with the MS NOW, CNN and other national and international news sources as Trump’s Global Demolition Derby escalates almost hourly and we here in his home nation suffer loss of civil and human rights and the entire nation loses dignity and trust internally and globally. It all rests on the shoulders of the House Speaker who send his mute and idle members home on frequent “vacations” rather than sitting in required session to resolve issues. Is he pushing to maintain Trump and Vance in their vaulted Presidency and Vice Presidency positions or hoping to push them out to replace them as his 3rd in line position requires in the Constitution they are all trying to delete?
Are we living in the Land of Oz or the Twilight Zone? How many here on this blog can truthfully say they didn’t anticipate the consequences of the current presidency?
For me, it is the speed with which Trump has accomplished his Dictatorship which exposed the weakened underbelly of the Democratic party which should have been obvious when they ousted our sitting President but didn’t fully support the replacement candidate. I believe the outcome would have been the same no mater who they replaced President Biden with; it was the party split that lost the election. The party split and the voters followed suit and half of them sat at home to make their point. We watch as the sitting Republicans disagree with Trump, speak out against him then vote to support his actions; we now fear retaliation from our global enemies with little if any possibility of aid from former global allies. Nuclear war is now closer to being a probability rather than a possibility; depending on United States of America leadership which is in a state of mass confusion.
Many of our scientists are happily moving to Europe where their skill and work is appreciated and rewarded. This is just one of the consequences of Trump’s insanity and his pandering to corporate/banking America.
These people are too stupid that they are taking dead aim at the golden goose that made them rich. If Trump isn’t removed from office, if the Republicans in Congress aren’t defeated in November and if the SCOTUS is allowed to behave like Trump’s caddies, our republic will come tumbling down. How’s that for a Debby Downer?
It’s still difficult to get my head around that these idiots still have an approval rating in the 30s.
Vernon, I understand your frustration, but we must recall that 50% of Americans have IQ’s below 100, as Pres. Eisenhower was surprised to find out.
Sheila, I’m fully with you on that last paragraph, was thinking along that line before got there.
Todd, “our man Mitch” is nothing but an ass, and is responsible for our not ridding us of Trump during his first time in office.
To quote Vern; “If Trump isn’t removed from office, if the Republicans in Congress aren’t defeated in November and if the SCOTUS is allowed to behave like Trump’s caddies, our republic will come tumbling down.”
So much is questionable because we cannot understand the thought processes of evil or the mentally ill; the question of why Trump has us in a war with no obvious reason or plan to get out could come down to a drastic distraction to the ongoing Epstein Files stalled out situation. Trump still has women “by their pussies” metaphorically and legally and the women he has appointed to high level positions are beginning to crumble, not gone but moved to less public positions. His December Draft Act does not include women, these seemingly minor facts are being ignored…by women in his administration and the voters. Trying to think around the corners of this administration could make us as crazy as any one of them.
As for Mikie in the House; he bears close watching, he may not be as weak or naive as he appears or as easily led by Trump’s control. He came from the last row to the pole position and could suddenly come out as the smartest one in the administration when he is ready to make his move. I don’t trust his seeming lack of ability to think for himself or that he is totally controlled by Trump’s whims. The demands to remove Trump and Vance has only one possible outcome, the Speaker of the House, and we know not what goes on behind those closed House doors. Vern is on target about removing the Republican Congress which would control Trump and remove Mikie from possible leadership and that deciding vote in the Senate.
For many years now feminists have pointed out what will happen with a corrupted Supreme Court, burgeoning inequality and continuing discrimination against women and minorities. We were told by our myopic male made mass media that we were ‘overreacting.’ And look where we are now. I hope women everywhere are pissed off enough to show up in all the elections here on out and replace every elected official who didn’t listen.
We need to hold Congress responsible for much of what has transpired in the last fifteen months. Most of the Executive Orders signed by Orange Jesus (OJ) aren’t legal, but they don’t care. It keeps them from having to vote on issues they wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole, lest their constituents find out what asses they really are. Both houses are responsible, but the House is largely to blame, since the power of the purse starts with them and they haven’t done anything to reclaim that power.
Now to the voters who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Harris, or to vote at all. I can understand those descendants of Palestinians who couldn’t vote for anyone who was in the administration that was providing bombs to Netanyahu. And yes there is a but coming. But we should have learned from his first term in office just how bad OJ would be for Palestinians. The only thing he sees is what he can get from every thing he touches. Palestinians have nothing, except a coast line that would look great with a hotel, but only if Hamas is gone.
Those others who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for a woman, I just want to ask, “How did that work out for you?” There wouldn’t have been any tariffs, Ukraine might be gaining the upper hand, there wouldn’t be a war in Iran, the US would be continuing to develop alternative energy sources, ICE wouldn’t be arresting or killing American citizens. I could continue, but I have a medical appointment to get to and this list might go on for days.
Jill – regardless of the “male made mass media”, not enough feminists, or people in general, voted to stop the remaking of our courts. They either didn’t understand the connection between elections and courts,, or just didn’t care.
I’ll be more optimistic – If Democrats win, and IF they have spines, we can punish the grifters, fire the Trump loyalists, beg the competent civil servants to return, and SHOW our traditional allies that we are fixing our problems.
Parts can be quick, others slower, with rebuilding trust being the hardest. It won’t be the same as before, but in partnerships, there can be leadership without dominance (although that is hard given our past).
Peggy, for me the “but” would be that we are never voting only for our own benefit in Primary or General Elections. It’s like those high taxes we pay we know others are benefitting from our payments; the problem is often wondering when somebody’s, anybody’s money will be put to use in our own neighborhoods. Our tax dollars are keeping the streets in wealthy neighborhoods well maintained and would the residents even know what a pot hole is…like Trump had no idea what a “corner store” could possibly be.
Life has never been fair; but now it just totally SUCKS!
It certainly hurts. I agree that the world is better off when the leadership of other countries make strides to improve the lives of their citizens. But, the world will benefit exponentially if the United States is contributing as well to positive change.