Republicans “have become the party that stands in the way of lower energy prices for American households”

In a newly released editorial, the New York Times breaks down the impact of President Trump’s crusade against affordable clean energy: rising energy costs for Americans.

After repeatedly promising to cut energy prices in half in his first year in office, Trump and his allies have gone out of their way to crush new sources of affordable power and shield their oil and gas industry allies from competition from cheaper, faster-to-deploy clean energy technologies. As the Editorial Board points out, that’s a problem for everyone who pays a power bill—even the climate deniers on the furthest fringes of our politics. 

For a more detailed roundup of Trump’s relentless campaign to snuff out America’s clean energy industry and stick working people with rising costs, read Evergreen’s latest Energy Price Hike tracker.

ICYMI: The New York Times: This Is Why Your Energy Bills Are Going Up

October 9, 2025|
By: The Editorial Board

Key Points:

• You do not have to care about climate change to believe that clean energy is an important and strategic resource. Solar and wind power are now cheaper than coal in many places and sometimes cheaper than oil and gas. Clean energy sources help both hold down costs for Americans and prevent the United States from having to import so much foreign oil from countries hostile to our interests.
  
  
• President Trump, however, has rejected the all-of-the-above approach in his second term. He is instead waging a war on solar and wind power.
  
  
• Mr. Trump signed a law in July that repealed the clean energy tax credits enacted by former President Joe Biden, eliminating hundreds of billions of dollars of investment into wind, solar and electric vehicles.
  
  
• Mr. Trump has also directed his administration to enact new regulations on clean energy and start specious investigations into its use, including one looking into bird deaths caused by wind turbines.
  
  
• His administration is trying to cancel wind projects off the coasts of Massachusetts, Maryland and Rhode Island, which would provide enough electricity to power more than a million homes. “Windmills, we’re just not going to allow them,” Mr. Trump recently said.
  
  
• Even some oil executives have criticized these moves as shortsighted.
  
  
• Mr. Trump ran for president promising to reduce the cost of living and of energy prices in particular. He has failed so far. Inflation remains near 3 percent a year even as economic growth and job growth have slowed. Electricity prices are almost 10 percent higher than they were a year earlier, according to the most recent numbers.
  
  
• Energy prices are likely to rise the most in states that have not prioritized clean energy, including Kentucky, Missouri and Oklahoma, experts say. The repeal of the tax credits alone may push electricity prices almost 10 percent higher than they would be otherwise by 2029, according to National Economic Research Associates, a consulting firm. 
  
  
• Gas prices will also increase over the next decade, according to Rhodium Group, a think tank, as consumers who would otherwise have driven electric cars continue using vehicles that burn fossil fuels.
  
  
• Mr. Trump’s approach to wind and solar is part of a larger story. It is, along with his tariffs, extreme immigration policies and attempt to take over the Federal Reserve, one more example of prioritizing ideology over the interests of American families.
  
  
• Mr. Trump’s energy policy also weakens America’s global standing by giving a competitive edge to the country’s chief geopolitical rival, China. For years China has meticulously grown its clean energy industry with government subsidies and other policies. Chinese companies now produce 60 percent of the world’s wind turbines and 80 percent of solar panels.
  
  
• Mr. Biden’s clean energy tax credits were meant to counter China’s moves. He understood that wind and solar would play an important role in the economy of the future, and that the United States should not let China control the global market. Mr. Biden’s approach was working, creating incentives for the private sector to build big clean-energy projects, including Toyota’s E.V. battery production facility in Liberty, N.C., and a Qcells solar panel manufacturing facility in Cartersville, Ga.
  
  
• Low energy prices are also good for economic growth. If prices are higher here than in other countries, companies will invest less in America. Consider artificial intelligence: Technology companies are building data centers to power their bots’ processing abilities. These data centers use a lot of electricity. If energy supply cannot keep up with demand, America’s A.I. build-out will lag — again to the benefit of China.
  
  
• The Republican Party has long denied the severe risks that climate change presents and stood in the way of sensible policies to address the extreme storms, flooding and heat that are already happening. Under Mr. Trump, Republicans have gone even further. They have become the party that stands in the way of lower energy prices for American households.

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