Why Billionaire Investor Tom Steyer Is Bullish On Clean Energy Under Trump

Forbes

Solar, wind and utility-scale battery projects are expected to keep growing regardless of the next administration’s “drill baby drill” obsession for a simple reason: they’re cheaper.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2024/11/14/why-billionaire-investor-tom-steyer-is-bullish-on-clean-energy-under-trump/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, why billionaire investor Tom Steyer is bullish on clean energy under Trump.

00:08President-elect Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accords in 2017,

00:14slowing global efforts to fight a climate crisis

00:16he's called a hoax, and has repeatedly promised to, quote,

00:20drill baby drill when he returns to office, claiming more production of planet-warming oil and gas will solve persistent inflation woes.

00:29But don't count out the clean power industry just yet.

00:32Billionaire investor Tom Steyer is betting that renewable power and the cleantech sector are going to be just fine,

00:39regardless of Trump's fixation on hydrocarbons.

00:42And he plans to continue to use the $1 billion his firm Galvanized Climate Solutions has raised and future investments

00:50to back companies with advantages in areas like cost-competitive low-carbon cement,

00:55ag technology that helps farmers improve efficiency and sustainability,

00:59energy management software, as well as cheap, continuous geothermal power from companies like Fervo Energy.

01:06Steyer told Forbes, quote,

01:08Texas has tripled their solar in the last three years and is by far the biggest wind producer.

01:14Are they doing it because they like renewables or because they like money?

01:17I think it might be because they like money, and so does everybody else.

01:21People are making decisions for cheaper, faster, better.

01:24That's the decision, not politics.

01:28Nearly a quarter of U.S. electricity now comes from renewables.

01:32Rapid growth that's accelerated under the Biden administration has limited, if not significantly reduced,

01:38the country's carbon emissions in the past few years, even as it consumes ever more power.

01:43While Trump's next administration will prioritize greater production of natural gas for power plants,

01:49utilities are already adding as much new wind, solar power, and increasingly large-scale battery storage as they can

01:57just to keep up with demand, which is expected to rise at least 10 percent by 2030.

02:02That's been compounded by the rise of power-guzzling data centers for artificial intelligence platforms and cryptocurrencies,

02:09ensuring that every source of electricity, including renewables and next-generation nuclear, will remain in the mix.

02:16Along with the urgency to slow carbon buildup, clean tech has become a massive business opportunity.

02:22U.S. investment in clean energy is expected to reach a record $300 billion this year, according to the International Energy Agency, or IEA.

02:32That's 1.6 times the level of 2020, the final year of Trump's first term.

02:38It's even outpacing investment in oil and gas, production of which is currently at a record high.

02:44Still, the country trails clean energy spending in the European Union, which the IEA expects to reach $370 billion, or China,

02:53which will likely spend $680 billion to maintain its lead in production of solar cells, lithium batteries, electric vehicles, and wind turbines.

03:03Steyer, a career fund manager and former Democratic presidential candidate with a net worth Forbes estimates at $2 billion, said his firm,

03:12which recently added former Secretary of State and special presidential climate envoy John Kerry,

03:18has avoided making bets based on policy, such as those impacted by Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, the biggest federal investment in clean energy.

03:28Instead, he evaluates companies based on their ability to do things cheaper and more efficiently, and that are better for the climate, like Fervo's geothermal plants.

03:39Steyer said,

03:52So you're talking about competing against that. You can't make oil or natural gas more efficient. It just is what it is.

03:58And these technology-driven sectors are doing what you expect technology-driven sectors to do, which is continue to move down the cost curve and continue to move up in efficiency rates.

04:09For full coverage, check out Alan Onsman's piece on Forbes.com.

04:15This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

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