Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 intent on rolling back green incentives, slashing tax credits and withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris pact. Paradoxically, the Iran‑Houthi conflict that followed spiked oil prices, prompting consumers and investors to chase alternatives. Europe logged its biggest EV month in March, while UK solar installations hit a 2012 high.

South Korea, importing about 70 % of its crude from the Middle East, announced an accelerated renewable rollout, and Colombia joined 50 nations drafting concrete fossil‑fuel phase‑out schedules. In April, clean‑energy funds saw the fastest five‑year inflows, while U.S. searches for electric vehicles rose 20 % in the war’s first week. Analysts cite gas at $4 per gallon as the tipping point for mass EV adoption.

U.S. utilities nonetheless set records, with 93 % of 2026 capacity slated from solar, wind or batteries, and March saw renewables overtake gas for the first time. Lazard’s analysis confirms renewables now beat gas on cost, a gap widened as data‑centre builds raise natural‑gas plant expenses. Even as Trump’s American Energy Dominance Act aims to repeal Biden‑era incentives, market forces cement clean power’s foothold.