The CSPC Dispatch - Sept 19th, 2025
Welcome back to the CSPC Dispatch.
This week, Senior Fellow Robert Gerber examines the turbulent debate over America’s energy future, where partisan clashes and market realities alike point toward the necessity of an “all of the above” strategy to ensure true energy security. Meanwhile, Amarah Din reflects on the slow and uneven recovery from Hurricane Helene, asking what the disaster reveals about federal responsibility, state resilience, and the obligations of government to its most vulnerable citizens.
As always, we hope you find the Dispatch engaging and welcome your thoughts on how we can continue to improve.
Happy Clean Energy Week
by Robert W. Gerber
Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA), member of the Conservative Climate Caucus, speaks at a National Clean Energy Week event in Washington D.C. (Photo Credit: Robert W. Gerber)
On the morning of September 17 at a fancy ballroom in Washington DC, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) took the stage at a symposium marking National Clean Energy Week. Her intent was to deliver remarks emphasizing that American energy security depends on an “all of the above” approach, i.e., one that includes both hydrocarbons and renewable energy. As she began speaking, protesters jumped on stage chanting climate crisis slogans. Security jumped into action and the video feed went black. Sen. Murkowski was able to finish her speech, but the same protestors later tried to prevent her car from leaving the venue.
Energy policy is a heated topic that elicits passion and vitriol because the choices involve difficult tradeoffs in terms of jobs, energy prices, land use, and the environment. The partisan noise from the left or right can drown out moderate, rational voices. President Trump has loudly criticized renewables, notably calling wind turbines an “economic and environmental disaster.” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has said repeatedly that solar and wind penetration have increased electricity prices. While this might be true in an isolated case, this claim is largely false. In fact, wind and solar energy generally cost less to deploy than other forms of energy and help fill energy demand and hedge against oil and gas price risk. Furthermore, many farmers and ranchers depend on off-grid wind or solar power.
The Trump Administration seeks to overturn Biden’s green agenda, eliminating climate targets and clean energy tax credits and pledging to increase hydrocarbon drilling and coal mining. He also directed U.S. export credit and development finance agencies to eliminate their ban on coal investments – a move that goes against U.S. commitments to a 2015 OECD pact. President Trump froze wind energy permitting on federal lands and said he would revoke three offshore wind permits that were approved under the Biden Administration. The Department of Energy issued a public notice that it is considering raising tariffs on imported wind turbine equipment, which would hurt U.S. industry while it is trying to build more domestically.
However, markets and geopolitics have a way of bringing a dose of reality to a president’s ambitions. For example, President Biden’s effort to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions coincided with record U.S. oil and gas production, spurred by global demand. His decision to pause LNG export approvals during a campaign year looked self-defeating as Europe worked to wean itself off Russian natural gas. Trump Administration will soon reckon with the potential costs of their efforts to sideline renewable energy. The first cost relates to jobs and the economy. Wind, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear produced more than 40 percent of U.S. electricity output in 2024. The government’s own energy statistical agency reported that developers foresee that half of new U.S. energy production will be solar in 2025. That translates to around 3.5 million clean energy jobs, many of them in red states like Texas, which is the top wind energy producer in the nation. America’s clean energy sector has been a major magnet for foreign investment. Meanwhile, a recent glut of oil in global markets and relatively flat prices per barrel have cooled any incentive for companies to expand their drilling operations. (Note: this could change at any time). The second cost is geostrategic: there is a global market for clean energy, driven by European and Asian customer demand and government regulations. Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX) told symposium audience that U.S. industry has opportunities to compete effectively in this space “and we can’t let China lead.” Sustainable aviation fuels based on ethanol are filling the market need for jet fuel while supporting farmers, according to Lindsay Fitzgerald of Colorado-based company Gevo.
The third cost is the impact on overall energy security. America needs more abundant, reliable and affordable energy. Forecasters are predicting soaring electricity demand, with 80% of the need coming from new data centers and 20% from advanced manufacturing and EVs. Industry experts agree that the only way to meet the nation’s power needs and create true energy security is an “all of the above” approach that includes oil, natural gas, nuclear, hydro, geothermal, wind, and solar. America’s big energy companies are all invested in renewables, putting their expertise to work on geothermal, biodiesel, hydrogen, and carbon capture solutions, for example.
Upgrades to the power distribution network are also vital, alongside deployment of innovative energy storage and smart grid technologies. (Extreme weather from climate change only makes this challenge more complex and more urgent.) There seems to be growing bipartisan support for streamlining the permitting process to build out America’s energy/electricity infrastructure; clean energy groups are teaming up with oil and gas companies to support Congressional efforts on this front. Of course, permitting needs buy-in from local communities, but national environmental groups have been able effectively veto projects by tying up approvals in courts.
The future of energy security and economic prosperity depends on diverse sources of energy deployed where they can be most useful. The realities make it increasingly harder to have a black and white view of energy policy. Ideally, Washington would craft an energy policy that is strategic and forward-thinking, meeting the needs of a diverse geographic and economic landscape, with built-in redundancies to cushion market disruptions. It should also create a stable environment for private capital investment without punishing the market. ImpactAlpha reported that policy reversal in Washington has caused the cancellation of an estimated $30 billion of investment in EV, battery, clean energy and other projects – although some of the EV battery pull back is due downward adjustments in the demand forecast. CEO of Crux Climate Alfred Johnson told the September 17 forum, “Government should set the table, then step out of the way.”
Robert W. Gerber is a Senior Fellow at CSPC.
Remembrance, Relief, and Recovery: North Carolina One Year After Helene
by Amarah Din
The remains of the Flowering Bridge at Lake Lure, North Carolina in May 2025. (Photo Credit: Bill McMannis, CC BY 2.0)
Intense winds, flash floods, brutal landslides, ruptured roads, trees collapsing on homes, and entire towns being wiped off the map: these were the markings of a once-in-a-generation catastrophe.
Known as one of the worst climate disasters to hit the Appalachian Mountains in recent history, Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on September 26, 2024. The eye of the Category 4 storm traveled through Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and dissipated in Indiana. But its most significant effects were felt in the hills and mountains of Western North Carolina (WNC). Through Helene’s journey north, both wind and rain left their heaviest mark in Yancey County, North Carolina, as wind gusts sustained up to 140 mph and the highest rainfall total reached 30.78 in. A combination of extreme winds, freshwater flooding, storm surges, and tornadoes resulted in a devastating total of over 250 deaths, 108 of which occurred in WNC alone.
Resource access in the aftermath of Helene was extremely scarce throughout the region. Residents of Asheville, NC were without clean water for seven weeks. A family in Burnsville, NC finally had their power restored after three months. Many schools paused or relocated instruction for several weeks due to deteriorating building conditions creating an unsafe learning environment.
The continued impact of Helene on local economies and infrastructure has been astronomical. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranks Hurricane Helene to be the 7th costliest hurricane in U.S. history with a whopping $78.7 billion in total damages. According to a December 2024 report from North Carolina's Office of State Budget and Management and then-Governor Roy Cooper, a staggering $59.6 billion will be needed in the state alone to recover from the storm’s impacts. But how much progress has been made in the recovery process as the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene approaches?
The State of North Carolina has made efforts to rebuild western communities. At the reopening of Chimney Rock State Park in June, Governor Josh Stein urged people to “Rediscover the Unforgettable”: an initiative to promote tourism in small towns and local businesses in WNC during the summer and autumn seasons.
As of the end of the 2025 Fiscal Year in June, the North Carolina General Assembly has appropriated, reallocated, and reserved a total of over $2.6 billion to Hurricane Helene recovery which equates to just about 4.4% of the necessary funds needed for a full recovery. State Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell) has stated that North Carolina’s state government will not be able to foot the bill for Helene without federal assistance.
In a press conference on September 2, Gov. Stein pointed out that, though he requested a $11.6 billion relief package from Congress in February, to date no action had been taken on it. Now he’s requesting $13.5 billion. Nearly one year after the storm, the federal government has only approved 9% of necessary Helene aid, which significantly falls short of precedented disaster relief. For instance, federal financial support covered 53% of damages for Hurricane Matthew and 20% of damages for Hurricane Florence in North Carolina. U.S. Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) has even pressured fellow Republicans to quicken the approval of aid to North Carolina. Due to his efforts, $76 million has been approved in just the past couple of weeks.
Gov. Stein says that though some federal funding is being approved, it is not actually reaching North Carolina in a timely manner. He cites that while aid is being approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Trump administration has simultaneously been referring to FEMA as being “incompetently run” and has been pushing for state and local governments to handle on-the-ground disaster relief. According to Gov. Stein, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has only been sending small fractions of approved FEMA aid. Secretary Noem instated a policy that she must personally approve any grant request over $100,000. She calls it a form of accountability and efficiency, while others deem it unnecessarily bureaucratic in desperate times. In North Carolina there is a clear consensus: the aid coming in simply isn’t enough.
While rural Appalachia’s resiliency in the wake of disaster serves as a beacon of hope, it does not come without questions to be asked and lessons to be learned. Should it not be the responsibility of the most privileged of governing bodies, namely those at the federal level, to protect and support the most vulnerable American communities? The push for states to take on more responsibility post-climate disaster narrowly assumes that every state has the infrastructure, labor force, and funding to do so. While one can and should be rightfully concerned about the responsible use of taxpayer money and efficacy of federal agencies, that concern should not come at the expense of people in critical need of help. North Carolinians have been pleading for support for nearly a year now. This isn’t about politics and party lines: it’s about giving back to our most vulnerable communities. It may be a distant memory for some, but Hurricane Helene remains a harsh reality for many Appalachian Americans. Now more than ever, Appalachia deserves better.
Amarah Din is an intern at CSPC and recent Political Science graduate from Appalachian State University.
CSPC IN THE NEWS
Book Review: No Better Friend? The United States and Germany Since 1945
Originally published in Foreign Affairs on August 19, 2025.
Foreign Affairs Magazine recently reviewed "No Better Friend? The United States and Germany Since 1945," written by our SVP and Director of Policy, Peter Sparding. Jessica Mathews describes it as an "engaging, beautifully written history of the pivotal relationship between the United States and Germany," one that provides important context for understanding transatlantic relations today.
Read the full review here.
Joshua Huminski on NewsNation to Discuss Trump’s State Visit to the UK
Originally published on NewsNation on September 18, 2025:
This morning, our SVP for National Security and Intelligence Joshua Huminski joined NewsNation to discuss President Trump's state visit to the United Kingdom this week.
Watch the full clip here.