How Wind And Solar Fell Short On Clean Energy Promises

The organic fuel industries, coal, natural gas, and oil, are rebounding after years of decline under the Obama and Biden administrations.

In 2024, under the Biden administration, more solar and wind energy came online, with organic fuels accounting for just 5% of new power.

While running for office, Biden stated several times that his goal was to end "fossil fuels." While in office, his administration tried, mostly through regulation. At the same time, his administration was pouring heavy subsidies toward wind and solar power.

During that time, there was even a push to ban gas stoves and water heaters.

It was shown that even with subsidies, wind and solar power are not cleaner or cheaper. During this time, the price of energy rose substantially.

Add to that, the promise of wind and solar being clean and green was shown to not be true. Those are alternative forms of energy, but they are not clean, cheap, or sustainable. Not even renewable.

But the Trump administration hit the brakes on those policies, then reversed them. Regulations that strangle organic energies have been eased greatly, and subsidies toward wind and solar have mostly ended. It is not mostly up to the free market to decide where we go from here.

Coal is making a bit of a comeback. Natural gas seems to be favored.

America's appetite for energy is increasing. Hyperscale data centers and electric cars are adding to that appetite. To feed what we need, America needs clean, reliable, and dispatchable energy that is ready on demand. Wind and solar cannot provide that.

WATCH: The TV show Landman Explains Why Even Wind Turbines Depend on the Oil Industry

I've covered this story for a few decades. Finally, I get to report some good news. Wyoming power plants can stay and will not be regulated out of existence.

President Richard Nixon signed the landmark Clean Air Act of 1970 into law on December 31, 1970. Who doesn't want clean air and water? Congress gave the EPA the power to write regulations to make that happen.

On December 7, 2009, under President Obama, the EPA declared CO2 to be a pollutant so it could have the power to regulate it.

There are a couple of problems with this.

The EPA did not have the authority to do this.
CO2 is not a pollutant.

CO2 is a life-giving gas. Even NASA studies show that more CO2 in the air is greening our planet. Plants absorb CO2, take the carbon molecule out and use it for growth, then they release O2 back into the air, which we breathe. CO2 is also one of the least effective gases when it comes to trapping heat in our atmosphere.

Did you know that you can buy CO2 emitters to help plants grow bigger in a greenhouse?

After the EPA wrote the new rule regarding CO2, they then began writing more rules to regulate organic fuels like coal, gas, and oil out of existence. Carbon sequestration for power plants became a rule, even though nobody ever quite figured out how to do it effectively.

Wind and solar power were pushed on the nation through the Obama and Biden administrations. These ways of producing energy were shown to be alternative, but not any more "clean or green." The result was a less reliable grid and higher energy prices.

Under the new EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, the old rules that the EPA was never allowed to write have been repealed. This will allow coal and natural gas power plants to produce energy without having to worry about their CO2 emissions.

Actual pollutants will still be regulated.

If done right, our nation can get back to producing clean, inexpensive, reliable energy.

Expect a litany of environmental lawsuits.