Did Europe Move To Renewables Too Fast Or Too Slow (Or Just Right?)

Did Europe Move To Renewables Too Fast Or Too Slow (Or Just Right?)

Share to Linkedin Wind turbines are seen near the coal-fired power station Neurath of German energy giant RWE in ... [+] Garzweiler, Germany. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images) There's a popular narrative circulating—particularly around the fossil-fuel and nuclear industries—that Europe is facing an energy crisis because it moved to renewables too fast. A keynote speaker circled the idea last week at the Baker Institute's Annual Energy Summit in Houston. The economist Robert Kaplan, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, cited the soaring cost of energy amid a slew of economic headwinds, including the aging population, slowing workforce growth, high government debt, and a reversal of globalization that makes it harder to source rare metals and semiconductors. "If you're in the middle of this kind of crisis and dilemma, you have to think with a clean sheet of paper: what are all the options you have to deal with this crisis?" Kaplan said. "And I'm just saying let's put a few more back on the table, including in Europe, and yes, (Europe) should be a warning sign to us that we need to put a few more variables on the table, because this is a very