The global energy landscape is shifting at a pace few could have predicted just a decade ago. In 2025, for the first time in history, renewable energy sources—chiefly solar and wind—overtook coal to become the world’s leading source of electricity. This milestone, celebrated by scientists and environmentalists alike, was highlighted by the prestigious journal Science in its annual roundup of the year’s most significant innovations, published on December 18, 2025. But the story behind this achievement is far from straightforward, involving a tangle of international competition, political maneuvering, and questions about who truly benefits from the green revolution.
According to Science, between January and June of this year, new solar and wind power installations were robust enough to meet the entire increase in global electricity demand. That’s a staggering feat—and one that underscores just how quickly the world is moving away from fossil fuels, at least in some regions. Yet, as the editorial in Science pointedly observed, the United States, once a leader in renewable technology innovation, is now missing out on the economic rewards of its own breakthroughs. “While the rest of the world is buying China’s cheap renewable technology, the United States is doubling down on fossil fuels,” the editorial lamented, calling it a “poor decision” that has cost the country a critical business opportunity.
The numbers are telling. As of 2025, China supplies 80% of the world’s solar cells, 70% of its wind turbines, and 70% of its lithium batteries. These are not just statistics—they represent a seismic shift in global manufacturing and trade. While American researchers and companies developed many of the technologies powering today’s renewables, it’s China that has perfected their mass production and now dominates the market. Science notes that China’s revenue from exporting renewable technology is now nearly as high as what the U.S. earns from fossil fuel exports, but with demand for renewables growing rapidly, China’s income is set to outpace fossil fuels in the near future.
This economic paradox is especially stark given recent policy choices in Washington. Since returning to office in January 2025, President Donald Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders designed to halt renewable energy development in the U.S. and boost fossil fuel extraction. These moves, which include lowering environmental standards and curbing new renewable projects, have drawn sharp criticism at home and abroad. The Science editorial didn’t mince words, framing Trump’s approach as not only environmentally damaging but also a strategic blunder for U.S. industry.
Trump’s energy agenda was further codified in the National Security Strategy released in early December, which laid out a vision for restoring “American energy dominance” based on oil, gas, coal, and nuclear power. The document, which took aim at the European Union and other advocates of rapid decarbonization, signaled a clear break from the global trend toward renewables. It’s no secret that the fossil fuel sector played a major role in financing Trump’s 2024 campaign, and his current Secretary of Energy is a former executive from the fracking industry—a detail that hasn’t gone unnoticed by environmental groups or the media.
At the international level, the Trump administration has found common cause with petrostates, working to defend the interests of the fossil fuel sector. The November 2025 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, saw a majority of countries—including the U.S.—decline to support a call to phase out oil, gas, and coal. It was a setback for climate advocates and a reminder that, despite the global rise of renewables, the political fight over energy’s future is far from settled.
Meanwhile, the energy rivalry between China and the United States is taking on new urgency with the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence. Data centers powering AI applications are voracious consumers of electricity. China is preparing to meet this demand with renewable energy, using fossil fuels only as backup. In contrast, the U.S. is sticking with an energy model that remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels—a choice Science warns could leave American tech companies at a disadvantage as the world moves toward cleaner power.
The debate over America’s energy direction isn’t just about policy—it’s also about the people shaping those policies. In May 2025, President Trump issued an executive order to expedite the approval of nuclear reactors and loosen regulations, sparking pushback from figures like Ernest Moniz, who served as Energy Secretary under President Obama. Moniz warned, “Reorganizing and reducing the independence of the [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] could lead to the hasty deployment of advanced reactors with safety and security flaws. A major event would, like those in the past, increase regulatory requirements and set back nuclear energy for a long time,” as reported by Reuters and the Washington Post.
Yet, as some outlets have noted, Moniz’s own post-government career is deeply entwined with the fossil fuel industry. After leaving government in 2017, he joined the board of Southern Company—an energy giant that, as of 2024, generated 58% of its power from natural gas and 18% from coal. Moniz earned a six-figure salary annually and held over 21,000 shares in the company, worth about $1.7 million at his departure in May 2024 and potentially $1.9 million by the end of 2025. Southern Company’s charitable arm also donated $400,000 between 2019 and 2023 to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, where Moniz serves as CEO.
Moniz’s involvement doesn’t stop there. In April 2024, his EFI Foundation released a report promoting natural gas as a sustainable resource for a low-carbon future—a report funded by oil and gas heavyweights like Chesapeake Energy and the American Petroleum Institute. The report, presented on Capitol Hill with the backing of lawmakers from gas-producing states, came as the Biden administration paused approvals for new natural gas exports, creating ripples throughout the industry. While the EFI Foundation claimed editorial independence, representatives from sponsoring companies provided subject matter expertise for the study.
Moniz also founded EJM Associates, an energy consulting firm whose client list—kept private due to the company’s structure—likely includes major oil and gas interests, given its partnerships with lobbying firms representing companies such as British Petroleum, Repsol, and even Russian state-linked entities. He sits on the boards of organizations like the Cyprus Institute and TAE Technologies, both of which have connections to governments or investors with a stake in fossil fuels. Critics, such as American Energy Institute CEO Jason Isaac, argue, “It is alarming that a former U.S. Energy Secretary has used his post-government career to build a foreign-linked consulting network that now shapes American energy policy from the shadows.”
As the world’s energy mix tilts ever more toward renewables, the U.S. finds itself at a crossroads. The technological know-how remains, but the economic and policy winds have shifted. With China capitalizing on American innovations and the Trump administration doubling down on fossil fuels, the question is whether the U.S. will seize the next wave of opportunity—or watch it pass by. The stakes, both economic and environmental, have never been higher.
