Catherine - I asked in an earlier comment if there was a tally of the stranded/sunk capital and job losses attributable to Trump policy changes. Thomas Edsall in The New York Times presented a comparison of the number, value and lost jobs of canceled or downsized renewable energy projects in 2023 and 2024 during the Biden Administration and in 2025 during the Trump Administration. There was a four times increase in canceled projects between 2024 and 2025 with an increased value of nearly $32 billion and more than 29,000 jobs. Could you please look under the hood for the methodology and share that any other credible analyses that you find?
"The Clean Economy Works Project Tracker maintained by E2, an organization that describes itself as “a national, nonpartisan group of business leaders, investors and others who advocate for smart policies that are good for the economy and good for the environment,” working in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council, found that during the Biden administration 10 renewal energy projects were canceled, closed or downsized in 2023, with an investment value of $1.02 billion and 2,122 lost jobs; in 2024, it was 15 projects, with a value of $2.47 billion and 8,346 lost jobs.
thanks Catherine, you are quickly becoming one of my favorite BW commentators - yours is a specialty field that I know little about - but learning! Carry on!
The Iran war might very well killed the entire economic concept of Dubai, a safe, sunny (hot as hades in the summer), tax free haven, with booze, but no casino gambling, for the wealthy adventurous type. The population of the UAE (which includes Dubai) is like 10/1 expats to local citizens! It will be interesting to see how many and how quickly those expats return.
Yeah but you see Tom, very frequently, the Media only assigns blame to Trump's Cabinet &/or Congress, and Trump is the one who gets a pass. You are correct, about Congress (Republican Congress, to be precise) being craven do-nothing Trump enablers.
Elect a financial genius who succeeded in bankrupting every business he ever ran to oversee the entire country and what do you expect? Exactly what is happening with a side order of grift for the enablers. Recession, anyone?
Great summation of the destruction this one man has caused in 17 mos. Again, when he floods the airways with crazy shit every day it’s hard to see the forest through the trees. I will be filing this one for future reference.
While talking with a retail store employee yesterday, he pointed out that the parking lot next door at a local restaurant was empty, when it's usually full at that hour. Also the lot at another restaurant had only one car at lunch time when it's usually packed. The Starbucks across the street was only half full on a Saturday morning. All signs of a slowing ecomony. One cannot afford the "luxuries" of life when the next tank of gas will cost $ 35-50 dollars more then it did three months ago. The last time this happened (high gas prices) it was one of the major contributors to the Great Ressesion. We are slightly better positioned in 2026 than in 2008 because of higher wages, but not much. This additional transfer of wealth to the shareholders of the oil companies could be the straw that broke the camels back. And it will all be on the orange turd tRUMP himself.
This is such an important piece. The fact that these economic failures are not being discussed more is so disappointing. Thank you Catherine for not only focusing on this but writing about it eloquently.
My son works in the solar energy construction and financing industry. His firm may collapse in the next two weeks due to Trump. Solar energy plants can be constructed in less time than can one fired by natural gas, nuclear energy, or oil. A solar energy generating facility can be constructed in 18-36 months. The other guys need at least 5-7 years. And that 5-7 years is on the short end of the construction process. The United States needs more electricity now rather than 5-7 years from now. With the tariffs and the ban on the "great green scam", lenders have become very twitchy. Banks don't know what to do. Equity investors are demanding unsustainable positions due to uncertainty. Trump's policies, and his whims, have created a funding meltdown. What better way to extort concessions and money from those most affected by the US Government's policies? He's paying wind farms now, but just wait. He will demand payment and recompense in the future. To the detriment of all.
It's been shoved down the Memory Hole, but this is not the first time Trump has put the manufacturing sector into a recession.
In the middle of his first term, before COVID, Trump put manufacturing into a recession due to his insanely stupid trade wars starting in 2019 when the rest of the economy was doing fairly well. Trump is King Mierdas 💩 for the manufacturing industry in our country.
So sad. Thanks for keeping track of this for us.
Catherine - I asked in an earlier comment if there was a tally of the stranded/sunk capital and job losses attributable to Trump policy changes. Thomas Edsall in The New York Times presented a comparison of the number, value and lost jobs of canceled or downsized renewable energy projects in 2023 and 2024 during the Biden Administration and in 2025 during the Trump Administration. There was a four times increase in canceled projects between 2024 and 2025 with an increased value of nearly $32 billion and more than 29,000 jobs. Could you please look under the hood for the methodology and share that any other credible analyses that you find?
"The Clean Economy Works Project Tracker maintained by E2, an organization that describes itself as “a national, nonpartisan group of business leaders, investors and others who advocate for smart policies that are good for the economy and good for the environment,” working in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council, found that during the Biden administration 10 renewal energy projects were canceled, closed or downsized in 2023, with an investment value of $1.02 billion and 2,122 lost jobs; in 2024, it was 15 projects, with a value of $2.47 billion and 8,346 lost jobs.
In 2025, Trump’s first year back in office, the number of closed, canceled or downsized projects rose to 61, with a value of $34.76 billion and 38,031 lost jobs." https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/opinion/trump-is-fighting-the-worlds-stupidest-culture-war.html
thanks Catherine, you are quickly becoming one of my favorite BW commentators - yours is a specialty field that I know little about - but learning! Carry on!
Phenomenal stupidity by Trump
Stupidity? Nope. He belongs to Big Oil. Greedy mfer
The Iran war might very well killed the entire economic concept of Dubai, a safe, sunny (hot as hades in the summer), tax free haven, with booze, but no casino gambling, for the wealthy adventurous type. The population of the UAE (which includes Dubai) is like 10/1 expats to local citizens! It will be interesting to see how many and how quickly those expats return.
Are there ANY crooked or unethical decisions Trump makes or bill he passes that will change the minds of those who voted for him? I
Please stop blaming Trump for all this. The GOP members of congress have delegated the power to declare war, spend money and approve import taxes.
Yeah but you see Tom, very frequently, the Media only assigns blame to Trump's Cabinet &/or Congress, and Trump is the one who gets a pass. You are correct, about Congress (Republican Congress, to be precise) being craven do-nothing Trump enablers.
Elect a financial genius who succeeded in bankrupting every business he ever ran to oversee the entire country and what do you expect? Exactly what is happening with a side order of grift for the enablers. Recession, anyone?
Great article, but needs better proofreading. Lots of typos and font changes. Also "stanch" for bleeding. "Staunch" for supporters.
let it be, Jen..
I mean, I know. But it was really bad.
Great summation of the destruction this one man has caused in 17 mos. Again, when he floods the airways with crazy shit every day it’s hard to see the forest through the trees. I will be filing this one for future reference.
While talking with a retail store employee yesterday, he pointed out that the parking lot next door at a local restaurant was empty, when it's usually full at that hour. Also the lot at another restaurant had only one car at lunch time when it's usually packed. The Starbucks across the street was only half full on a Saturday morning. All signs of a slowing ecomony. One cannot afford the "luxuries" of life when the next tank of gas will cost $ 35-50 dollars more then it did three months ago. The last time this happened (high gas prices) it was one of the major contributors to the Great Ressesion. We are slightly better positioned in 2026 than in 2008 because of higher wages, but not much. This additional transfer of wealth to the shareholders of the oil companies could be the straw that broke the camels back. And it will all be on the orange turd tRUMP himself.
This is such an important piece. The fact that these economic failures are not being discussed more is so disappointing. Thank you Catherine for not only focusing on this but writing about it eloquently.
This is great reporting. And a perfect outline for an ad someone should make.
Where is the CTRL + ALT + DELETE command for this deeply broken country? I would like a hard reset, please.
My son works in the solar energy construction and financing industry. His firm may collapse in the next two weeks due to Trump. Solar energy plants can be constructed in less time than can one fired by natural gas, nuclear energy, or oil. A solar energy generating facility can be constructed in 18-36 months. The other guys need at least 5-7 years. And that 5-7 years is on the short end of the construction process. The United States needs more electricity now rather than 5-7 years from now. With the tariffs and the ban on the "great green scam", lenders have become very twitchy. Banks don't know what to do. Equity investors are demanding unsustainable positions due to uncertainty. Trump's policies, and his whims, have created a funding meltdown. What better way to extort concessions and money from those most affected by the US Government's policies? He's paying wind farms now, but just wait. He will demand payment and recompense in the future. To the detriment of all.
One other thing.
It's been shoved down the Memory Hole, but this is not the first time Trump has put the manufacturing sector into a recession.
In the middle of his first term, before COVID, Trump put manufacturing into a recession due to his insanely stupid trade wars starting in 2019 when the rest of the economy was doing fairly well. Trump is King Mierdas 💩 for the manufacturing industry in our country.