The Wind and Solar Surprise: Renewables Keep Winning

Environmentalists long assumed the energy transition would rise or fall with political support. Today, the opposite appears closer to the truth. Political support is weakening across much of the West. The transition is accelerating anyway.  Renewables are no longer advancing primarily because governments want them to. They are advancing because economics and energy security support them. 

The fallout from the recent conflict in the Gulf sent oil prices soaring and reignited concerns over the vulnerability of global energy supply chains. Fears of disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz once again highlighted how dependent modern economies remain on fuel imports and maritime chokepoints. 

Energy security returned to the center of political debate — and many policymakers now view renewable generation less as a climate tool than as insurance against geopolitical instability. The latest Middle East tensions reinforced a lesson Europe first learned in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine: energy dependence remains a strategic vulnerability regardless of whether the source of disruption lies in Moscow or Tehran.