A bit of US historical perspective. In the 1970s, the OPEC energy crisis prompted the Feds to push for renewables in a big way. The talk at the time about its

A bit of US historical perspective. In the 1970s, the OPEC energy crisis prompted the Feds to push for renewables in a big way. The talk at the time about its environment benefits were probably one of the first examples of greenwashing. The push for conservation probably made a bigger environment impact with efficiency improvements in cars and the like. The real concern was reliable access to energy and robustness of the economy to shocks caused by oil/gas disruptions. Energy independence for the US, and secondarily for US allies. Has been and continues to be the de facto US government’s top priority in energy policy AFAIK. You can see that sustained support reflected in the continual incremental performance improvement in solar and wind tech. That sort of thing happens with major tech commitments over many years. Solar and wind are the “hyperlocal organic food-secure produce” of energy technologies, as long as manufacturing remains onshore. Renewables were never envisioned to be the major energy source. Nice if they were, from a government standpoint, but more important was they could play a significant role in an robust energy portfolio. The Feds had and have a position of energy technology agnosticism modulo regional politics with oil/gas and the like. Market share grows and shrinks over the years, but a diverse portfolio means you always have enough, important for those who lived through the oil price shocks of the 1970s and 1980s. No citations, so take it for what it’s worth...