March 31, 2026

Insight, News and Context

By Victor J. Quartey

The numbers don’t lie, and right now, they’re telling a story our government seems determined to ignore.

In 2024, solar power was on average 41% cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternatives, while onshore wind projects were 53% cheaper. Altogether, 91% of new renewable energy projects commissioned last year were more cost-effective than any new fossil fuel alternative. IRENA So when the government redirects public funding away from offshore wind farms and back toward oil and gas, it isn’t a choice focused on minimizing spending, it’s the opposite.

This Is Simply Bad Economics

Renewables avoided $467 billion in fossil fuel costs globally in 2024 alone, nearly half a trillion dollars redirected away from volatile global fuel markets and toward energy independence. Energy Connects Offshore wind, once dismissed as expensive, is now part of this revolution. Pulling the plug on it doesn’t save money. It locks taxpayers into a more expensive, more volatile energy system for decades.

Oil and gas prices swing with geopolitics, war, and market speculation. Wind and sun do not. Every dollar funneled back into fossil fuel infrastructure is a dollar anchoring us to price instability, paid by households at the pump and on their energy bills.

The Health Cost Nobody Talks About

Burning coal, oil, and natural gas releases tiny particles and toxic gases that make people sick. Air pollution from fossil fuels causes an estimated 5 million deaths worldwide per year. thecurrentga Natural gas has even been linked to childhood asthma, with one study attributing nearly 13% of U.S. childhood asthma cases to gas stove combustion alone. Redirecting funds toward fossil fuels isn’t just an economic mistake, it’s a public health one.

The “It’s Complicated” Defense Doesn’t Hold Up

Supporters of the funding shift argue that renewables face permitting delays, grid challenges, and financing hurdles. That’s true. Major energy projects in the U.S. take an average of 4.5 years to permit, and new transmission lines can take a decade or longer. thecurrentga But the answer to bureaucratic bottlenecks is reform, not retreat. Redirecting funding to oil and gas doesn’t fix the permitting problem; it simply rewards the industry that already has the infrastructure in place.

We’re not choosing between a perfect system and an imperfect one. We’re choosing between the future and the past. The data is clear. The direction should be too.