German Cranks Up the Volume on Renewable Energy

Germany finds itself in a unique position among the countries of the world, in that it’s gotten rid of both coal and nuclear and now depends quite heavily on renewables.   Germany is the world’s third largest economy, behind the United States and China, so there is a huge amount at stake.

These people are extremely sharp, and they’re not known for risk-taking.  Yet they’ve made a huge commitment here; renewables (mainly wind and solar) accounted for 59% of Germany’s electricity in 2024, and that figure is headed for 80% by 2030.

Meanwhile, in the United States, we have a president who’s doing everything in his power to destroy the entire renewable energy industry, and, for those concerned about jobs, this is problematic, to say the least.  At the end of 2024, more than 3.5 million Americans were employed in clean energy occupations, spanning renewable generation (569,000 jobs), battery and storage, energy efficiency, biofuels, grid modernization and clean vehicles industries. These jobs now represent a significant share of the U.S. workforce—including seven percent of all new jobs added in 2024—and are spread across every state, strengthening local economies.

A quick story: The governor of Iowa, a Republican, was asked by another GOP leader why he didn’t but a spear through the wind industry, as it’s competitive with fossil fuels, which Republicans adore.  The reply, “Are you kidding? What you think hundreds of thousands of my voters do for a living?”