Remember the climate crisis? The relentless, escalating threat to human health and safety that was once the main driver of clean energy policy?<\/p>\n
You\u2019d be forgiven if it\u2019s all a\u00a0bit hazy, given how swiftly the term was dropped from the energy-transition lexicon this\u00a0year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Starting on Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump not only eviscerated climate policy but completely upended the way Americans talk about energy. Though Trump seemed more concerned with taking down ideological rivals than helping constituents\u2019 bottom lines, his new lexicon got a\u00a0boost from consumer concerns about soaring energy prices that had people casting around for quick fixes. Climate change was out. Talk of \u200b\u201cenergy dominance,\u201d \u200b\u201cenergy abundance,\u201d and \u200b\u201cunleashing American energy\u201d rushed in. The shift was like \u200b\u201c6-7<\/a>\u201d taking over a\u00a0fourth-grade classroom: inexorable and irresistible.\u00a0<\/p>\n The new terminology made the scene on Trump\u2019s first day back in the White House, when he signed an executive order with a\u00a0grab bag of fossil-fuel giveaways under the title \u200b\u201cUnleashing American Energy.\u201d A\u00a0few weeks later, he used another executive order to create the National Energy Dominance Council. Both orders touted the country\u2019s \u200b\u201cabundant\u201d resources.<\/p>\n Clean energy advocates quickly began invoking similar terminology in an attempt to shoehorn solar power into the new narrative. The Solar Energy Industries Association even passed out stickers with the phrase \u200b\u201cenergy dominance\u201d on Capitol Hill as part of its lobbying efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n