U.S. President Donald Trump resigned from the Paris Climate Agreement almost a year ago and recently ordered Energy Secretary Rick Perry to subsidize unprofitable coal and nuclear power plants. However, Trump’s coal-friendly policies do not seem to match the energy consumption trends in the United States. According to a study by BP, America’s energy mix changed in favor of natural gas and renewables, topping coal and nuclear power with a slight year-over-year decrease.
Comparing the G7 countries’ change in energy consumption, several trends can be discovered. While all countries increased their share of renewable energy during the last year, Germany and the United Kingdom are leading this trend. Surprisingly, Japan seems to limit her oil consumption in favor of an increased output of nuclear power, even though the Fukushima in 2011 incident shrunk public support for this energy source drastically.
