US Renewable Energy Hits New High, But Faces Roadblocks by Trump

A report by Environment America states that the growth of renewable energy has reduced harmful greenhouse gas emissions and made the country’s energy system more resilient.

Renewable energy in the United States (US) has increased to previously unheard-of heights, with the combined power produced by solar, wind, and geothermal more than threefold over the last ten years.

A report by Environment America states that the growth of renewable energy has reduced harmful greenhouse gas emissions, made the country’s energy system more resilient, and avoided thousands of deaths caused by power plant pollution.

Twenty-eight million houses are powered by the solar energy generated in 2024, eight times more than ten years prior. Between 2023 and 2024, the solar energy generation increased by 27%.

In 2024, wind energy powered 42 million houses. Over the last decade, wind power has more than doubled.

Wind, solar, and geothermal energy accounted for 19% of all retail sales power last year.

Between 2023 and 2024, the US utility-scale battery storage capacity increased by 63%, more than 80 times in the last ten years.

By the end of 2023, there were around 3.3 million electric cars on US roads, a 25-fold increase from 2014. The number of charging stations increased to 218,000, six times more than in 2015, and a 24% growth from the previous year alone.

Argonne National Laboratory reports that more than 1.5 million plug-in electric vehicles were sold in 2024, more than 7% of 2023.

The US saw about 300,000 new electric cars sold in 2025 Q1, an 11% increase from the previous year.

One could say that this progress faces resistance as Donald Trump has started to cut federal spending and initiatives meant to alleviate the climate catastrophe.

All of this is taking place at a time when environmentalists are particularly concerned. The worst case is that despite an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, heat-trapping gases are already in the atmosphere. A recent analysis by Climate Central, an independent non-profit organization that conducts research and disseminates information about the climate problem and its effects, almost 50 states have warmed since the first Earth Day in 1970.

Johanna Neumann, senior director of the Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy (which is led by Environment America), stated that clean energy technologies are helping people in all 50 states by producing clean energy without impurities.

A review of the government statistics used in the Environment America report shows that most southern states with the largest increases in wind, solar, and geothermal energy over the last ten years are Republican states.

Mississippi and Alabama rank lower, and Florida and North Carolina rank higher in renewable energy production.

However, a new analysis suggests a more concerning sign for those worried about the climate crisis: in the first three months of 2025, nearly $8 billion in investments, including 16 large-scale factories and other projects, were canceled, closed, or downsized, according to a report by E2, a nonpartisan group of business leaders who support environmental policies.

Uncertainty in the market and the congressional debate over eliminating tax credits and other incentives for clean energy projects are likely factors for the cancellations of those projects.

According to E2 research, the $7.9 billion in investments canceled are more than three times the amount canceled over the preceding two years.

Michael Timberlake, an E2 representative, states that clean energy companies still wish to invest their dollars in the United States, but uncertainty and Trump administration policies against clean energy and the future of critical clean energy tax credits are causing a clear toll.

He added that Joe Biden‘s massive climate measure, the Inflation Reduction Act, extended tax benefits for renewable energy through at least 2032.

It’s not clear if the Republican-controlled Congress will eliminate such tax benefits.