During his speech at the 2026 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland in January, U.S. President Donald Trump berated European countries for using green energy — claiming, without evidence, that wind turbines are a health hazard and climate change is a "hoax." European countries use a combination of fossil fuels, green energy and nuclear power, but Trump's message was that they shouldn't be using green energy at all.
Liberal economist Paul Krugman examines Trump's vehement opposition to green energy in a column published on his Substack page on April 14. And he argues that Trump is dropping the ball from both an environmental standpoint and an economic standpoint.
"Donald Trump wants to stop the renewable energy revolution," Krugman observes. "But he can't — it will continue to advance around the world because the economics and the science are compelling. Trump can, however, ensure that the revolution passes us by. And the big geopolitical winner from Trump's hostility to the energy revolution will be China, which dominates the production of renewable-energy infrastructure."
The former New York Times columnist continues, "Furthermore, the China-led energy future will arrive ahead of schedule thanks to the debacle in Iran. Soaring oil and gas prices, combined with the threat of shortages, have driven home the riskiness of relying on fossil fuels."
Citing recent New York Times reporting on the effect that Trump's war with Iran is having on energy prices in Europe, Krugman noted that the more reliant European countries are on fossil fuels, the more they are hurting when their bills arrive.
"France and Spain, which mostly generate electricity from non-fossil sources —
including nuclear power in France — have been partially insulated from the war's side effects," Krugman explains. "Italy, heavily reliant on gas, has suffered badly. Also, Trump's decision to counter Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by blockading the Strait of Hormuz surely adds to the perception that relying on U.S. oil and LNG (liquefied natural gas), which is what countries will have to do if they don't turn to solar and wind, isn't safe. Who can guarantee that an erratic America won’t try to weaponize other countries' dependence on our energy?"
Krugman adds, "So Trump's adventurism in Iran has sparked a global rush to invest in solar power, wind power, and the batteries that make renewable energy work 24/7. And where will the world procure most of the renewable energy equipment it seeks? From China…. It's sad to watch this country sabotage itself and cede the most important industry of the future to China. In doing so, we make ourselves poorer, technologically backward, and less influential in a world that is speeding towards the energy revolution. In the end, we aren't just burning fossil fuels; we’re also burning our future."
