, Columnist
The Fed Choked Clean Energy. It’s About to Start Reviving It
Higher rates have held back green power. As central bankers take their foot off the brake, investment momentum will be unstoppable.
Getting a tailwind.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Think of the people who have done most to impede clean power over the past few years, and a few obvious figures suggest themselves: Vladimir Putin. Mohammed Bin Salman. Donald Trump. Jerome Powell?
That last one may seem out of place. The Federal Reserve governor hasn’t always delighted climate activists, but he’s done his best to stay out of the bitter debates between advocates of fossil fuels and green technology. And yet the actions he’s taken to manage interest rates over the past few years have quietly been one of the most decisive factors slowing the pace of the energy transition.