(Frédéric Moreau – Hans Lucas – AFP / Getty Images)

Key Takeaways:

• Europe’s rapid shift to renewables has driven electricity prices to record highs.

• Industries are shutting down or relocating due to soaring energy costs.

• U.S. Democrats push similar policies despite Europe’s economic setbacks.

Europe wanted to lead the world into a green-energy utopia, and instead they sprinted straight into an economic buzzsaw. The Wall Street Journal practically needed a calculator and a defibrillator to walk through the damage: record-breaking electricity prices, heavy industry fleeing the continent, and even AI data centers being paused because the grid simply can’t handle the load. Germany — the poster child of “green leadership” — is back to firing up coal plants just to keep the lights on. That’s not progress; that’s a self-inflicted wound.

Meanwhile, Democrats here keep pointing to Europe as the model we should follow, even as Europe itself backtracks. California already tried the EU approach and got sky-high utility bills and nation-leading unemployment for its trouble. Trump warned this was coming years ago, and now the numbers prove him right. America’s energy advantage is real, and unleashing it is exactly why our economy keeps outpacing Europe’s.

From Western Journal:

European countries’ rapid push to switch over to green energy from carbon-based sources is wreaking havoc on their economies.

“Europe has succeeded in slashing carbon emissions more than any other region — by 30% from 2005 levels, compared with a 17% drop for the U.S. But along the way, the rush to renewables has helped drive up electricity prices in much of the continent,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Germany now has the highestmo domestic electricity prices in the developed world, while the U.K. has the highest industrial electricity rates, according to a basket of 28 major economies analyzed by the International Energy Agency. Italy isn’t far behind. Average electricity prices for heavy industries in the European Union remain roughly twice those in the U.S. and 50% above China,” the outlet added.

“We are hemorrhaging industry,” Dieter Helm, an economic policy professor at Oxford University who has advised U.K. governments on energy policy, said of the high energy prices.

Carney wants to be more like Europe “Germany now has the highest domestic electricity prices in the developed world, while the U.K. has the highest industrial electricity rates… Average electricity prices for heavy industries in the EU remain roughly twice those in the U.S. and… pic.twitter.com/iKCcZSYLs6

— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) December 2, 2025

 

The Wall Street Journal offered examples of companies choosing to shut down or greatly limit their operations in Europe, like Exxon Mobil announcing it was closing its chemical plant in Scotland.

Further, “Twenty years ago, the U.K. was the most competitive location globally for Huntsman, a Texas-based chemicals manufacturer, thanks to cheap North Sea energy, said CEO Peter Huntsman. Over the past decade, the company sold off most of its U.K. assets, reducing its staff there from more than 2,000 to around 70,” the outlet said.

Ireland has placed a moratorium on new data centers — which underpin AI computing — until 2028 because of a lack of electrical capacity.

Gee, who could have predicted that Europe’s political obsession with “green energy” would hamper its economy (and security)? pic.twitter.com/T0aX2vpIrZ

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 2, 2025

In 2023, Germany re-fired some of its coal-based plants to meet electricity needs that renewables could not, according to Reuters.

Clean Energy Wire noted that fossil electricity production in Germany increased by 10 percent in the first half of 2025.

“‘Unusually weak’ wind conditions caused the output of wind power turbines to drop by 18 percent, while solar photovoltaic (PV) installations increased their output by 28 percent, Destatis [Germany’s statistical office] said. However, wind power remained the most important individual power source, contributing nearly 28 percent to the power mix, followed by coal (22.7%), solar power (17.8%), and then fossil gas (16.2%),” the outlet reported.

President Donald Trump warned European nations during his United Nations address in September, “If you don’t get away from the green energy scam, your country is going to fail.”

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