Trump’s Return Brought Stiff Headwinds for Clean Energy. So Why Are Advocates Optimistic in 2026?

14 comments

1. I think after his little “we interrupt this program so that the president May whine” event the other night, he’s lost a lot of rizz and alignment. .

2. Why? Inertia. The human tendency to believe that what happened in the past was normal, anything now is an aberration, and things will go back to the way they were before.

   The advocates are turning a blind eye to how we have been ceding the renewable energy lead we had to China and (to a lesser degree) Europe. By now, there are structural and competitive reasons that will make it extremely hard to catch up.

3. capitalism is now on our side. that’s why. renewables saves money. 

4. Because it’s the cheapest and cleanest energy source we currently have on the planet, and businesses seek to cut costs. Grandpa fights anything technical or scientific because he can’t comprehend them with his limited IQ plus dementia (he can’t even understand how magnets work – high school physics). But companies will simply flatter him, give him cheap gaudy gold trinkets, and while he’s distracted congratulating himself, they’ll embrace the advances while he clamors to go back to the 1950’s – drilling for more oil (or steal it from other countries), and sending the USA back to the times of the horse and buggy, while the rest of the world leaves us behind. Double digit IQ Magas might approve, but not corporate America, they employ smart people. And they don’t plan to go bankrupt as a strategy, like all of grandpa’s companies do.

5. You can only legislate against economics for so long. Also he’s looking REAL fucked up lately

6. The market will decide. Eventually, police’s will need to change from buying from expensive generators (race to the top), to race to the bottom pricing.

7. A while ago, a new renewables installation became cheaper than building a new coal plant. Recently, renewables became cheaper than EXISTING coal plants. Couple battery storage and upgraded interstate transmission lines, the economics of renewables are pretty solid. Natural Gas still has better economics, but its getting close.

   Every generation facility (even renewables) have a lifespan. The coal facilities built decades ago are at, or past, their life span and becoming too expensive to maintain. They will be closed, and the best option is to replace with renewables.

   There are NO requests for permits to build new coal plants anywhere in the western hemisphere (except for one in the Caribbean I think). Even if they started today it would take the better part of a decade for it to come on line. Its pretty clear that the existing plants will be phased out, replaced with renewables and gas.

   The race is already over.

8. Winter is here! US electrical grids are about to crash and burn

9. Because it makes economic sense

10. The market doesn’t care what Trump says

11. Because midterms

12. Because there are, quite literally, no alternatives that can be brought online fast enough to meet demand growth. 

13. Zero optimism for offshore wind though, being located in federal waters.

14. Strong headwinds are very good for wind turbines…

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