The price of oil is up 50% and the price of liquefied natural gas has doubled since the United States and Israel attacked Iran, thanks to Iran’s throttling of the Strait of Hormuz and strikes on Persian Gulf fossil-fuel facilities. When fuel costs more, so does everything else.
Oh, woe! If only there was something we could have done to hedge our strategic energy and economic interests against this supply shock…
Exposure to global commodity markets poses a perpetual risk of disruption. And renewable energy offers a strategic hedge against this kind of commodity market volatility. I estimate that 1 gigawatt of solar could save roughly $3 billion on imported fuel costs that you might otherwise need for a gas-fired power plant [Sam Reynolds, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, interviewed by A Martinez, “How the Energy Crisis Fueled by the War in Iran is Affecting Asia,” NPR: Morning Edition, 2026.03.17].
Renewable energy—you know, the cheaper, cleaner, more domestic energy that Donald Trump has spent his entire second term sabotaging with lies, illegal funding cuts, and ridiculous executive orders.
Pakistan is weathering this supply shock thanks to going big on solar and wind power:
On many rooftops in Pakistan, solar panels shine atop homes and buildings. In recent years, the country has seen an unprecedented growth of solar as prices for Chinese imports have fallen. Since 2023, Pakistan has imported roughly 41 GW of solar panels from China, according to [energy think tank] Ember data. That’s enough to power millions of homes. All other power generation sources combined in Pakistan, including coal, natural gas, and nuclear, were about 46 GW in 2024, according to Ember data.
…Pakistan imports most of its LNG from Qatar. But Pakistan isn’t as exposed to this loss of supply in part because of its new solar and wind capacity, Pakistan’s energy minister told Reuters last week. Last year, Pakistan reduced its LNG imports, in part because of the rapid growth of solar and batteries.
To manage the current loss of LNG supplies, Pakistan is deploying a variety of solutions, including expanding renewable generation, according to energy research firm, Wood MacKenzie.
Because so many Pakistanis now have solar and batteries, [Pakistani think tank Renewables First’s Nabiya] Imran says the country’s electricity sector has more of a cushion in this crisis. “Which kind of makes Pakistan’s energy transition story,” she says, “not just a story about climate, but also a story about risk management for energy security” [Julia Simon, “Oil and Gas Prices Are Soaring. Some Countries Are Ready with Solar Panels and EVs,” NPR: Morning Edition, 2026.03.16].
Uruguay has gone 90% renewable and thus is less likely to be hit by Trump’s war inflation:
After the financial crisis in 2008, unease about a reliance on oil and gas imports was what drove Uruguay to go all in on renewables.
Two decades ago, the small South American country with a population of 3.5 million embarked on a plan to phase fossil fuels out of its power grid by rapidly expanding wind farms.
Today, more than 90% of the country’s electricity comes from renewables — mainly wind, solar, hydropower and biofuels. That figure has reached 98% in some particularly wet and windy years.
…[Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century exec Rana] Adib said the shift to green power helped limit Uruguay’s exposure to past energy price surges.
“During the energy crisis linked to the war in in Ukraine, Uruguay energy prices remained stable,” Adib said. “This is extremely important because it means that the inflation does not hit this country in the same way as a country that has a high dependence on fossil fuel imports.”
Adib said the investment in renewables created 50,000 jobs and has allowed the country to save $500 million (€430 million) in energy import costs annually [Natalie Muller, “How Renewable Energy Shields Countries from Oil Price Shocks,” DW.com, 2026.03.10].
We used to have Presidents who recognized the obvious economic security merits of renewable energy:
It’s time for us to recognize once again, with the surest degree of confidence, the great natural resources which God has given us and to seize the opportunities that we have to build a more prosperous, self-reliant, enjoyable, confident future in which all Americans can share.
Today, in directly harnessing the power of the Sun, we’re taking the energy that God gave us, the most renewable energy that we will ever see, and using it to replace our dwindling supplies of fossil fuels.
There is no longer any question that solar energy is both feasible and also cost-effective. In those homes now using electricity, a typical solar hot water heating system, such as the one behind me, can pay for itself in 7 to 10 years. As energy costs increase, which is an almost inevitable prospect, that period for paying for this investment will be substantially reduced. Solar energy will not pollute our air or water. We will not run short of it. No one can ever embargo the Sun or interrupt its delivery to us. But we must work together to turn our vision and our dream into a solar reality [President Jimmy Carter, “Solar Energy Remarks Announcing Administration Proposals,” 1979.06.20, transcript from The American Presidency Project].
Smart nations have installed solar panels and wind turbines, while America has installed an imbecile dictator:
Trump thinks he understands the centrality of industrial production to national security: He’s bought stakes in critical minerals and semiconductor facilities, and used national security considerations to impose or threaten to impose tariffs on aluminum, steel, computer chips, pharmaceuticals, copper, lumber, and in his first term, washing machines. But there’s been no crusade by Trump to invoke national security to promote the production and installation of domestic renewable energy, the most critical vulnerability we now face.
In fact, it’s been just the opposite. Trump forgot to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve despite loudly promising to do so. Then he started a war on Iran without any clear idea why, and according to Sen. Chris Murphy’s (D-CT) account of a classified Senate briefing, without any plan for how to respond if Iran carried out the most obvious retaliation in the history of warfare, namely blocking the Strait of Hormuz, which carries one-fifth of global oil production.
It may end up being worse than the 1970s oil shocks, except instead of oil-producing states punishing the West for supporting Israel, America is punishing itself and the world for electing the biggest moron in the entire country. Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make stupid [Ryan Cooper, “The National Security Case for Renewable Energy,” The American Prospect, 2026.03.13].
Get smart. Get solar. Get wind. And get Trump out of power as soon as Constitutionally feasible.