> thanks to an ill thought out denuclearization drive It has nothing to do with this. Keeping nuclear power around would help a bit when it comes to electricit

> thanks to an ill thought out denuclearization drive It has nothing to do with this. Keeping nuclear power around would help a bit when it comes to electricity in particular, but natural gas is also used for heating and industry, where nuclear power just isn't a direct replacement. Since most reactors are old, and would need expensive refurbishment to continue using them. It wasn't so much a choice between not denuclearizing and using gas. It was between a huge and expensive investment in mostly new nuclear capacity, vs a combination of new renewable energy and inexpensive natural gas. Since natural gas is easier to combine with renewables, and easier to gradually phase out as renewables became more mature, there was some rationality behind the decision. Maximizing investments in renewables is probably the most important thing to do, because it's easier and faster to scale, and easier to get started with in developing countries which will be so important to avoiding increased emissions, so getting the costs down on those has huge benefits. That said, yes, it was dumb making Europe dependent on Russian gas. I guess there was some hope that this would keep Russia in check through economic ties, but this has now obviously been proven wrong.