Energy analysts said that there is growing realization among Europe’s decision-makers that ‘climate optimism is no substitute for dispatchable power.’
President Donald Trump’s dramatic shift of U.S. energy policy could have a knock-on effect on Europe’s ambitious net zero plans, according to analysts.
Trump’s push for more U.S. domestic drilling and more exports of liquid natural gas (LNG) to Europe has eschewed climate change policies, which could have various direct impacts on the bloc’s energy market and policies.
According to some observers, Trump’s announcements alone are accelerating a shift in the debate on energy and climate in Europe, where ambitious climate change goals are increasingly being challenged at the ballot box by a populist backlash.
EU leaders have prioritized a renewables-first energy approach, along with all-encompassing legislation that locks in its aims to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
Those goals remain unchanged, some European leaders maintained, after Trump announced that the United States is withdrawing from the Paris climate accord.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Jan. 21 told the World Economic Forum in Davos: “Climate change is still on top of the global agenda. From decarbonizing to nature-based solutions. From building a circular economy to developing nature credits.”
German vice chancellor and Green Party MP Robert Habeck, the architect of plans to make 80 percent of electricity green in Germany by 2030, told an energy conference in Berlin on Jan. 21 that “we have to bring our own technologies to the fore.”
Review of EU Green Deal
Not all EU countries are on board.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called for a review of the European Green Deal, warning that high energy prices could topple democratic governments.
Speaking in Strasbourg on Jan. 22, Tusk said some EU regulations have led to a situation in which “energy prices are too high.”
The veteran center-right leader told members of the European Parliament that high energy prices “might bring the downfall of many democratic governments.”
Andy Mayer, COO and energy analyst at the free-market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs told The Epoch Times that Tusk’s remarks reflect the growing realization among Europe’s decision-makers that “climate optimism is no substitute for dispatchable power.”
By Owen Evans
