https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/nov/11/light-horizon-american-energy-allies-europe/
President-elect Donald Trump’s resounding victory may spell doom for the anti-freedom, anti-prosperity international movement that is the push for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.
It is difficult to put into words the bullet we dodged regarding a Kamala Harris presidency and the energy policy that would likely have come with it. The vice president is more extreme than President Biden on alarmist environmentalism and bafflingly hostile to the American energy industry, particularly coal, of which we have some of the cleanest and best in the world.
The first Trump administration did not examine the green energy subsidies under the microscope as carefully as it should have. The new administration should reevaluate and hopefully end those artificial incentives, forcing utilities to make decisions based on efficiency and effective electricity generation rather than green progressive vogue.
As for our upstream energy development, there were dozens of direct attacks under Mr. Biden on domestic oil, gas and coal production, which is probably why Mr. Trump won Pennsylvania and West Virginia this year.
I am confident that this will end under Mr. Trump, as he has repeatedly praised our great energy industry, and his previous term bolstered domestic energy production.
The danger will come from the snakes in the grass in the energy industry. Groups such as the American Petroleum Institute are celebrating Mr. Trump’s win, but they were happy to support carbon taxes and aid in destroying our clean coal industry. The Trump administration will want to be cautious when dealing with industry groups that have been willing to throw small companies under the regulatory bus.
Where would these policy starting points leave us with our European allies?
I have written recently about how the British government and other European governments are suppressing their own energy production and even agriculture, all in the name of achieving net zero. I pointed out then and continue to maintain that net zero is another wealth redistribution scheme from the working class to multinational corporations, green boondoggles and bureaucrats.
In the case of agriculture, even the land itself is being snatched away from farmers by inheritance taxes and burdensome environmental regulations and given to large agricultural or green energy companies. Europe has seen quite a bit of unrest related to this issue, yet its governments seem intent on pursuing this creeping green authoritarianism.
And so it is heartening and humbling to see so many abroad who were hopeful not just that Mr. Trump would win but that his policies are driven by love of country and economic prosperity as well as robust energy production. The United States’ influence on other nations policies is undeniable.
So those currently suffering under Europe’s net-zero policies should be hopeful that American energy policies will lead to sounder policies in their own countries. The United States has the privilege and burden of being the leader of the West. As our energy and climate policy goes, so will likely go Europe’s.
We cannot let this opportunity go to waste or let our friends and allies down. With optimism and clarity, it is time to unleash clean, efficient, affordable American energy while lighting the way for others to follow.
It is time for net zero to fade away, unburdened by what has been.
• Linnea Lueken ([email protected], @LinneaLueken) is a research fellow with the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy at the Heartland Institute.
