Many Americans are fed up with watching the country stumble into an energy crisis dressed up as a climate crusade. Energy security isnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t some abstract concept ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s the backbone of the nationÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s strength, and we are risking it all chasing net-zero pipe dreams.
Common sense and numbers donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t lie. We canÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t sacrifice reliable, homegrown power for unreliable wind, solar and batteries that cost a fortune and leave us vulnerable. ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s time to wake up before the lights go out and our energy costs skyrocket.
LetÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s talk about China. While activists trip over themselves to ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œsave the planet,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Beijing is playing a different game. In 2023, it added 500 terawatt-hours of new electricity generation, mostly from coal.
China is not slowing down. It knows cheap, reliable energy fuels its economy and global ambitions. Meanwhile, under the Joe Biden administration, we were stuck with energy policies that drove up our bills and made our grid shakier than a house of cards in a windstorm. Thankfully, the One Big Beautiful Bill ends $500 billion in wind and solar subsidies, just not fast enough.
Wind and solar? They sound great until you look at the real world. They arenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t just expensive; theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re destabilizing. Ask Californians about their sky-high electricity rates and shortages, or Texans about their blackout nightmares. When the wind stops or the sun sets, so does electricity.
WeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re funding ChinaÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s coal empire by buying its solar panels, turbines and batteries. China uses more than half of the worldÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s 9 billion tons of coal, and it is building hundreds of coal plants that will last 50 years. India and Indonesia are doing the same.
The good news? The corporate green facade is starting to crack. Big Oil, Shell, BP, and others used to play along, trumpeting climate pledges to keep the activists happy. Now, theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re backing off.
Shell is cutting wind and solar targets to focus on oil and gas profits. BP is slashing wind projects because the math doesnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t add up. Even Exxon is backing away from the net-zero hype. These arenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t eco-villains; theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re businesses realizing that gutting hydrocarbons, oil, natural gas and coal is economic suicide. Why donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t many of our politicians get it?
America has more coal than China. WeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re sitting on enough to power industries for generations, yet weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re paying through the nose for electricity. Why? Because weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve vilified coal and bet on ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œgreenÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ tech that comes from China.
Subsidizing solar panels and wind turbines made with low-cost coal, low labor costs, sometimes using slave labor, and few environmental protections isnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t just bad business; itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s bankrolling an authoritarian regime thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s building its military at an amazing clip and polluting the world.
Our tax dollars are propping up a regime that crushes dissent and eyes global control, all while many worry about ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œsustainability.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
We should protect our environment. We have taken our eye off real conservation in favor of attempting to regulate the gas of life, carbon dioxide, out of existence. Carbon dioxide makes plants grow much better, greens our earth, and is a gas that we each exhale about two pounds a day.
Energy security is national security. We need to lean into what works: coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear, sources that keep the lights on and the factories humming and transportation moving all the time, not just when the wind blows (32% of the time) and sun shines (20% of the time).
We must stop funneling money to China for tech that doesnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t deliver. Ditch the subsidies that make us weaker, and embrace the home-harvested energy that strengthens the economy and national security.
Net-zero might make for nice headlines, but in a world where power means survival, itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a luxury we canÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t afford. WeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve got the resources and the know-how to lead; letÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s stop pretending and start acting like it.
Americans want electric grids that donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t flicker, where energy bills donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t take ever more from our wallets, and where weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re not at the mercy of rivals who donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t play fair. That starts with an energy policy grounded in reality, not fantasies. We are choosing strength over slogans and building a future thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s powered by us, for us.
Putting Americans and the countryÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s security ahead of the fantasies of controlling the weather by limiting the gas of life is the right direction for our country.
Frank Lasee is the president of Truth in Energy and Climate. He wrote this column for .
