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There are a multitude of arguments against this: - Investing in alternatives has led to massive new industry that is improving the economy of those countries t

There are a multitude of arguments against this: - Investing in alternatives has led to massive new industry that is improving the economy of those countries that do it. If your argument is an economic one then jump onto the solar, wind and battery bandwagon. - There are virtually no real short medium or long term gains economically here. Gas is the only thing still competitive with solar/wind and its costs are rising while solar and wind continue to fall. Building new maximum pollution plants would drop that internalized cost but who in their right mind would fund something so obviously DOA? - Obviously the externalized costs of greenhouse gas emissions are deeply undervalued in this move. Even if they are 'fake news' in the US, the rest of the world is finally starting to take them seriously. The US's diminished soft power means it won't be able to easily bully the world into allowing it to pollute without consequence and such an obviously hostile move means it will loose even more of its soft power by taking this position. So on the international level this means we burn a lot of political capital and gain nothing but decades of distrust and anger. - Current events show that energy security is dominated by decoupling from fossil fuels. This weakens the US strategically and continues to set it up to be manipulated by exceptionally hostile actors. - Oh yeah and, of course, climate change is real. This continues the US down the path of being the best buggy whip maker in the world. Worse than that, the US is becoming an obnoxious buggy whip maker who's neighbors are starting to hope fails horribly and will help make that happen as moves like this continue. This is stupid at every scale and in every dimension.

selectodude 11d ago
The Gulf countries paid handsomely to get Trump in there to keep the United States as the buyer of last resort once the rest of the world goes renewable. Problem is that installing a bunch of sick sons of bitches to do your bidding can backfire when those some morons lose a war to Iran in a matter of months.
nine_k 11d ago
The current wars in Europe and the Middle East paradoxically push the world towards non-fossil enery like few things did before. Both oil and natural gas prices have skyrocketed on global markets, and will likely rise more, as Ukraine continues to target Russian oil infrastructure, and Houtis continue to stymie Saudi oil exports. Nothing hampers solar, wind, and batteries though; at worst it takes longer to ship the key components from China to Europe around Africa.
- leonidasrup 11d ago
  The current wars in Europe and the Middle East could paradoxically push the world towards more domestic energy production, be it fossil or non-fossil energy. For example in reaction to 1973 Arab oil embargo Carter boosted energy efficiency and solar and promoted coal. " "America indeed is the Saudi Arabia of coal, and my goal as President of the United States is to see on the world energy markets Arab oil replaced with Illinois coal," Carter told miners and employees of the Old Ben Coal Mine No. 25. He also boasted that the country would, "produce more coal in 1980 than has ever before been produced in the United States of America." " https://www.npr.org/2024/12/29/1158426645/jimmy-carters-environmental-legacy-set-the-foundation-for-todays-climate-action https://www.npr.org/2024/12/29/1158426645/jimmy-carters-envi... New coal gasification projects in India https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/india-clears-4-billion-plan-boost-gas-production-coal-2026-05-13/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/india-clears-4-billi...
  - PorciiVorbesc 11d ago
    >The current wars in Europe and the Middle East could paradoxically push the world towards more domestic energy production, be it fossil or non-fossil energy. Fossil fuel is still going strong and will probably stay so for the next 50 years. Like I just learned Taiwan makes most of its energy from coal and LNG and is set to denuclearize, which blew my mind given their cutting edge manufacturing economy, but kinda makes sense when you factor in their geography and geopolitics.
    - 3eb7988a1663 11d ago
      Global fossil fuel usage fell last year. We are on a trajectory to massively cut out fossil fuels and replace them with renewables. This was before global petroleum movement was blocked through the Strait. Check out the juicy details in the Ember 2026 report[0]. Some highlights: Driven by record solar growth, low-carbon power generation increased by 887 TWh in 2025, outpacing electricity demand growth of 849 TWh. Solar power alone met 75% of the net increase in electricity demand. Together with wind, the two sources met almost all (99%) demand growth. For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and only the fifth time this century, fossil generation did not rise, recording a small fall of 38 TWh (-0.2%). The global fall in fossil generation was driven by a historic reversal in fossil trends in China and India, the largest and third-largest fossil power countries globally. 2025 was the first year this century when fossil generation fell in both countries. In China, it fell by 56 TWh (-0.9%), marking the first decline since 2015. For the first time in 100 years, renewables (33.8%, 10,730 TWh) overtook coal power (33.0%, 10,476 TWh) in the global electricity mix as continued rapid growth in solar and wind pushed the share of renewables above a third of global generation. Coal power dropped 63 TWh (-0.6%) in 2025, marking the first fall since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Combined with continued electricity demand growth, this meant coal fell below a third of global generation for the first time in history. [0] https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-review-2026/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-...
beloch 11d ago
At least they haven't relaxed restrictions on sulfur dioxide emissions, etc.. yet. Making rain acidic again would be completely on brand for this administration.
- actionfromafar 11d ago
  We might want to at least on the high seas to combat global warming a bit.
- deleted 11d ago
  [deleted]
actionfromafar 11d ago
But is it stupid if you want to sell some fossil fuels in the short to medium term?
juujian 11d ago
Fossil fuel power plants are unfortunately still profitable for their owners (billionaires...). The cost of building them has mostly been written off a long time ago. None of this is about what is good for America in the long run...
- thelastgallon 11d ago
  Most big businesses don't run on competition or profits. They run on free money supply by the Govt.
cubefox 11d ago
> - Investing in alternatives has led to massive new industry that is improving the economy of those countries that do it That's a baseless claim. For example, Germany has invested massively in solar but its electricity prices went up, not down. > Gas is the only thing still competitive with solar/wind That's false. Coal power is cheaper than all of those. Solar and wind include costs for expensive battery backups since they are highly volatile. And to make it clear: Climate change is very bad so coal plants are very bad. But that doesn't mean you can go around and claim that coal isn't cheap compared to things like solar+batteries. The fact that something is good doesn't imply that it is cheap.
- importantstuff 11d ago
  This price of electricity is high because gas, which is still expensive, sets the price of electricity most of the time [1]. The levelized cost of electricity for solar (including batteries) and wind is cheaper than coal [2]. [1] https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-why-does-gas-set-the-price-of-electricity-and-is-there-an-alternative https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-why-does-gas-set-the-price-of... [2] https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/press-media/press-releases/2024/photovoltaic-plants-with-battery-cheaper-than-conventional-power-plants.html https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/press-media/press-releases/...
  - consensus1 11d ago
    I will believe it when I see it. The only countries with both cheap and clean electricity are those that built out extensive nuclear or got lucky enough to have access to other forms of cheap base load like hydro / geothermal.
    - tapoxi 11d ago
      Australia would disagree: https://www.energy.gov.au/news/new-energy-plan-daily-window-free-electricity https://www.energy.gov.au/news/new-energy-plan-daily-window-...
      - 11d ago
bjourne 11d ago
You are 100% right but I think your arguments will fall on deaf ears. Someone bribed Trump or one of his cronies to revoke pollution limits and they got it. What to do when rationality just isn't a factor in politics anymore?
leptons 11d ago
I have to wonder if this is a play towards coal miners, who are part of the conservative base - and they need every vote they can get. Coal is an awful source of power, and a really big source of pollution.
- bunderbunder 11d ago
  I doubt they really care about coal miners’ actual votes. The US coal mining industry employs fewer than 50,000 people. I live in a major coal producing state and while it was an important industry in my grandparents’ time, these days it isn’t a particularly noteworthy share of our economy. I would say if it’s specifically about coal at all, it’s more because of the GOP’s tendency toward weird nostalgic obsessions.
  - pjc50 11d ago
    Entirely seriously, but stupid: it's gender politics. Coal mining is manly coded, renewables are feminine coded and therefore deemed bad by the right.
  - leptons 10d ago
    I should have included voters in all the communities in coal mining areas, not just the miners - all the families and everyone of voting age in coal mining areas who now might think that coal mining is coming back (and it just might under trump). Revoking limits on pollution by power plants benefits coal more than any other form of energy production.
maxnevermind 11d ago
> - Current events show that energy security is dominated by decoupling from fossil fuels. This weakens the US strategically and continues to set it up to be manipulated by exceptionally hostile actors. Is not Germany an example of the opposite? I mean their decision to shut down nuclear plants while getting dependant on Russian supply of energy sources?

selectodude 11d ago

The Gulf countries paid handsomely to get Trump in there to keep the United States as the buyer of last resort once the rest of the world goes renewable. Problem is that installing a bunch of sick sons of bitches to do your bidding can backfire when those some morons lose a war to Iran in a matter of months.

nine_k 11d ago

The current wars in Europe and the Middle East paradoxically push the world towards non-fossil enery like few things did before. Both oil and natural gas prices have skyrocketed on global markets, and will likely rise more, as Ukraine continues to target Russian oil infrastructure, and Houtis continue to stymie Saudi oil exports. Nothing hampers solar, wind, and batteries though; at worst it takes longer to ship the key components from China to Europe around Africa.

leonidasrup 11d ago
The current wars in Europe and the Middle East could paradoxically push the world towards more domestic energy production, be it fossil or non-fossil energy. For example in reaction to 1973 Arab oil embargo Carter boosted energy efficiency and solar and promoted coal. " "America indeed is the Saudi Arabia of coal, and my goal as President of the United States is to see on the world energy markets Arab oil replaced with Illinois coal," Carter told miners and employees of the Old Ben Coal Mine No. 25. He also boasted that the country would, "produce more coal in 1980 than has ever before been produced in the United States of America." " https://www.npr.org/2024/12/29/1158426645/jimmy-carters-environmental-legacy-set-the-foundation-for-todays-climate-action https://www.npr.org/2024/12/29/1158426645/jimmy-carters-envi... New coal gasification projects in India https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/india-clears-4-billion-plan-boost-gas-production-coal-2026-05-13/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/india-clears-4-billi...
- PorciiVorbesc 11d ago
  >The current wars in Europe and the Middle East could paradoxically push the world towards more domestic energy production, be it fossil or non-fossil energy. Fossil fuel is still going strong and will probably stay so for the next 50 years. Like I just learned Taiwan makes most of its energy from coal and LNG and is set to denuclearize, which blew my mind given their cutting edge manufacturing economy, but kinda makes sense when you factor in their geography and geopolitics.
  - 3eb7988a1663 11d ago
    Global fossil fuel usage fell last year. We are on a trajectory to massively cut out fossil fuels and replace them with renewables. This was before global petroleum movement was blocked through the Strait. Check out the juicy details in the Ember 2026 report[0]. Some highlights: Driven by record solar growth, low-carbon power generation increased by 887 TWh in 2025, outpacing electricity demand growth of 849 TWh. Solar power alone met 75% of the net increase in electricity demand. Together with wind, the two sources met almost all (99%) demand growth. For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and only the fifth time this century, fossil generation did not rise, recording a small fall of 38 TWh (-0.2%). The global fall in fossil generation was driven by a historic reversal in fossil trends in China and India, the largest and third-largest fossil power countries globally. 2025 was the first year this century when fossil generation fell in both countries. In China, it fell by 56 TWh (-0.9%), marking the first decline since 2015. For the first time in 100 years, renewables (33.8%, 10,730 TWh) overtook coal power (33.0%, 10,476 TWh) in the global electricity mix as continued rapid growth in solar and wind pushed the share of renewables above a third of global generation. Coal power dropped 63 TWh (-0.6%) in 2025, marking the first fall since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Combined with continued electricity demand growth, this meant coal fell below a third of global generation for the first time in history. [0] https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-review-2026/ https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-...

beloch 11d ago

At least they haven't relaxed restrictions on sulfur dioxide emissions, etc.. yet. Making rain acidic again would be completely on brand for this administration.

actionfromafar 11d ago
We might want to at least on the high seas to combat global warming a bit.
deleted 11d ago
[deleted]

actionfromafar 11d ago

But is it stupid if you want to sell some fossil fuels in the short to medium term?

juujian 11d ago

Fossil fuel power plants are unfortunately still profitable for their owners (billionaires...). The cost of building them has mostly been written off a long time ago. None of this is about what is good for America in the long run...

thelastgallon 11d ago
Most big businesses don't run on competition or profits. They run on free money supply by the Govt.

cubefox 11d ago

> - Investing in alternatives has led to massive new industry that is improving the economy of those countries that do it That's a baseless claim. For example, Germany has invested massively in solar but its electricity prices went up, not down. > Gas is the only thing still competitive with solar/wind That's false. Coal power is cheaper than all of those. Solar and wind include costs for expensive battery backups since they are highly volatile. And to make it clear: Climate change is very bad so coal plants are very bad. But that doesn't mean you can go around and claim that coal isn't cheap compared to things like solar+batteries. The fact that something is good doesn't imply that it is cheap.

importantstuff 11d ago
This price of electricity is high because gas, which is still expensive, sets the price of electricity most of the time [1]. The levelized cost of electricity for solar (including batteries) and wind is cheaper than coal [2]. [1] https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-why-does-gas-set-the-price-of-electricity-and-is-there-an-alternative https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-why-does-gas-set-the-price-of... [2] https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/press-media/press-releases/2024/photovoltaic-plants-with-battery-cheaper-than-conventional-power-plants.html https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/press-media/press-releases/...
- consensus1 11d ago
  I will believe it when I see it. The only countries with both cheap and clean electricity are those that built out extensive nuclear or got lucky enough to have access to other forms of cheap base load like hydro / geothermal.
  - tapoxi 11d ago
    Australia would disagree: https://www.energy.gov.au/news/new-energy-plan-daily-window-free-electricity https://www.energy.gov.au/news/new-energy-plan-daily-window-...
    - 11d ago

bjourne 11d ago

You are 100% right but I think your arguments will fall on deaf ears. Someone bribed Trump or one of his cronies to revoke pollution limits and they got it. What to do when rationality just isn't a factor in politics anymore?

leptons 11d ago

I have to wonder if this is a play towards coal miners, who are part of the conservative base - and they need every vote they can get. Coal is an awful source of power, and a really big source of pollution.

bunderbunder 11d ago
I doubt they really care about coal miners’ actual votes. The US coal mining industry employs fewer than 50,000 people. I live in a major coal producing state and while it was an important industry in my grandparents’ time, these days it isn’t a particularly noteworthy share of our economy. I would say if it’s specifically about coal at all, it’s more because of the GOP’s tendency toward weird nostalgic obsessions.
- pjc50 11d ago
  Entirely seriously, but stupid: it's gender politics. Coal mining is manly coded, renewables are feminine coded and therefore deemed bad by the right.
- leptons 10d ago
  I should have included voters in all the communities in coal mining areas, not just the miners - all the families and everyone of voting age in coal mining areas who now might think that coal mining is coming back (and it just might under trump). Revoking limits on pollution by power plants benefits coal more than any other form of energy production.

maxnevermind 11d ago

> - Current events show that energy security is dominated by decoupling from fossil fuels. This weakens the US strategically and continues to set it up to be manipulated by exceptionally hostile actors. Is not Germany an example of the opposite? I mean their decision to shut down nuclear plants while getting dependant on Russian supply of energy sources?