Energy Outlook

By: Jacob Kim

Donald Trump likes to talk about energy—“American energy,” “energy dominance,” “energy independence.” He hypes up pipelines, oil fields, and drilling permits as if fossil fuels alone power progress. But beneath the bluster lies a brutal contradiction: while he claims to champion American energy, he is gutting the very institutions leading us toward a cleaner, safer, and more resilient energy future.

The latest example? At least 114 employees were laid off at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)—the nation’s premier research hub for clean energy innovation. These are not paper-pushers or redundant staff. These are the scientists and engineers who are developing solar, wind, grid storage, and other technologies essential to combating climate change and securing America’s energy future. Their work doesn’t just support environmental goals—it bolsters our economy, national security, and global competitiveness.

The layoffs come as part of a larger Trump administration effort to slash the Department of Energy’s budget by $20 billion, including massive cuts to the office that funds NREL. These aren’t theoretical budget drafts. They’re already having consequences: “stop work” orders, mass staff resignations, and now widespread layoffs. The excuse? “Realigning priorities.” The result? Crippling the country’s clean energy momentum at a time when we should be sprinting toward climate solutions.

This is not just an assault on science—it’s a betrayal of the planet. We are living through a climate emergency. From record wildfires and floods to rising seas and deadly heatwaves, the world is burning. Climate scientists agree that slashing emissions and scaling clean energy is our best chance at survival. And yet, Trump’s actions undercut that effort at every turn—not with ignorance, but with intent. The defunding of NREL, alongside the cancellation of environmental justice grants, the rollback of climate rules, and the proposed closure of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice, forms a clear pattern: a war against the future, waged from the highest levels of power.

Trump doesn’t just ignore the climate crisis—he actively accelerates it, kneecapping the very people and programs that could slow it down. And it’s not just scientists who suffer. These reckless decisions ripple across communities, economies, and ecosystems. Layoffs at NREL don’t just mean lost jobs. They mean stalled research, abandoned breakthroughs, and a setback in the race to create the technology that could save millions from climate catastrophe.

You can’t claim to care about energy while destroying the only labs that are building its sustainable future. You can’t claim to care about American leadership while gutting the innovations that would let us lead the clean energy transition. You can’t claim to care about people when you’re pushing policy that guarantees more heatwaves, more fires, more displacement, and more death.

This isn’t just bad policy. It’s climate sabotage. And the world is already feeling its consequences.