is a correspondent at Vox writing about climate change, energy policy, and science. He is also a regular contributor to the radio program Science Friday. Prior to Vox, he was a reporter for ClimateWire at E&E News.

According to the American Clean Power Association, 93 percent of the new energy capacity added to the US power grid in 2024 — 49 gigawatts — came from low greenhouse gas emissions sources like wind, solar, and batteries. And the trends show no sign of stopping: the Energy Information Administration projects that just solar and battery power together will account for 81 percent of the new capacity added to the grid in 2025.

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Countries, states, grid operators, and private companies aren't exactly making these decisions out of a benevolent desire to save the Earth. They're doing it because it's often the fastest, most affordable route to more energy.

"These people were not climate fanatics or folks who are solving for climate change; they were solving for human needs in their homes," said Jigar Shah, who led the US Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office under President Joe Biden — which by the end of 2024 had issued $69 billion in financing for clean energy projects. "Clean energy is the dominant way by which you actually add electricity to the grid today."

But there are political, market, and technological forces that could slow this shift down drastically. We're getting a picture of that in real time as President Donald Trump's tariffs send the global economy on a roller coaster ride. The twists and turns are especially stomach-churning for clean energy. The supply chains for photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, and lithium-ion cells stretch around the world. Tariffs will raise costs for the raw materials and finished components that go into new clean tech products, but the uncertainty — about which countries get what tariffs and whether they'll stick — is making it hard to plan anything at all.

There…

Umair Irfan

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