Is Trump helping renewables?
Donald Trump is unwittingly helping renewables to victory.
We have become very, very modest, writes the TAZ (11 April 2026), if it is already ‘good news’ (Foreign Minister Wadephul) that President Trump has ‘temporarily refrained’ from following through on his announcement to wipe out the 4,000-year-old Iranian civilisation in a matter of hours. Yet this “good news” could turn into a disaster again in just a few days.
It is true that, due to the US and Israel’s war on Iran, the world is currently experiencing what is probably its greatest fossil fuel crisis. Energy prices are rising dramatically in the EU and the US. Renewable energies have only just managed to dampen the upward trend. Elsewhere, however, this has resulted in thousands of deaths, tens of thousands of injuries, immeasurable human suffering and billions in damage. And in poor countries, tens of thousands more will starve to death due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Every war is always an environmental disaster too, because huge quantities of CO2 and other pollutants are released. Wars poison the air, water and soil for decades. Billions of people worldwide are affected
The consequences of this war are as terrible as those of any war. One might perhaps see a ‘silver lining’ in the fact that, as a result of this war, renewable energies are experiencing a boom worldwide. ‘Der Spiegel’ speaks of a ‘collateral benefit’ (10 April 2026). Ironically, it is the climate change denier and opponent of renewables, Donald Trump, who is giving renewables the biggest boost ever, because they promise independence, climate protection, peace and a cheaper energy supply. The war in Iran is now making it clear to everyone that we must move away from oil and gas as quickly as possible.
Sales of electric cars in this country rose by 66 per cent last month compared with the previous month; heat pumps are booming, as are affordable large-scale storage systems worldwide for times when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.
Slowing down for the climate!
Even in Germany, a speed limit on motorways is now being discussed. After all, with a 120 km/h limit on motorways and an 80 km/h limit on country roads, we could save over three billion litres of petrol and diesel a year in this country. And, incidentally, drive more safely and relaxed. So: put the brakes on for the climate! We must learn that prosperity built on environmental destruction is not real prosperity, as Klaus Töpfer once said. He warned that without climate protection there would be no peace, and instead ever-increasing poverty and ever-growing numbers of climate refugees.
The fact that electric cars in Germany are overtaking petrol cars so quickly in new car sales statistics was considered pure utopia just a few weeks ago. Yet once again it is confirmed that something is only considered impossible until it ‘suddenly’ becomes possible.
The triumph of renewables is unstoppable – all over the world. At present, solar and wind power plants, as well as hydropower, are booming even in the USA. Why? Because they are significantly cheaper. Even the hot-headed and mad Donald Trump is powerless against these market forces. He is unwittingly helping renewables to victory.
