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Agustina Vergara Cid: Young Americans need more clarity about energy

April 20, 2026

Young Americans have been sold a story on energy: that to keep our planet habitable, we have to tone down our energy consumption and embrace renewable energy across the board.

What they haven’t been told is that our massive use of energy is precisely what allows us to live in an environment hospitable to human life, and that reliable, abundant, and affordable energy is the foundation of everything that makes our life possible. The economy young generations are going to build will require more energy, not less. Young Americans should think about this clearly and prioritize progress and the satisfaction of its energy needs.

It’s time for the younger generation to take up the conversation around energy. As Alex Epstein, CEO of the Center for Industrial Progress, puts it: “The energy industry is the industry that powers every other [industry] to improve human life.” Energy is not just about the grid, it impacts the cost and availability of everything else. In a 2022 congressional testimony, Epstein explained that “the cost of your food, the cost of your clothing, the cost of your shelter, the success of your business, your ability to take a vacation, the cost of all the different modern miracles, the cost of your healthcare … they are all tied to energy.”

The future will be even more energy hungry, particularly with the new demands of AI. Per Pew, U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024 (more than 4% of the country’s total) and that figure is projected to grow by 133% by 2030. New technology, innovation, and more people seeking out their values (starting businesses, having families, and using new technologies to improve their lives) will also increase our energy needs. America needs policies that will make energy available, reliable, and affordable to meet the demands of our civilization and that will enable a prosperous life for younger generations.

Young Americans have been told to rely on “green energy,” but these forms of energy can’t answer our current nor future energy needs. Solar and wind cannot reliably supply what a modern economy requires, in part because they are intermittent: Solar doesn’t generate at night, and wind doesn’t blow on demand. They can’t replace dispatchable power plants; they can only supplement them at added cost, per Epstein. Green mandates and government initiatives will only increase the cost of energy.

California is a great example of this: According to California’s own nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, in its report “Assessing California’s Climate Policies—Residential Electricity Rates in California,” average residential electricity rates in the state rose 47% from 2019 to 2023, compared to roughly 18% overall inflation in the same period. Last year, California’s electricity rates were the second highest in the country.

On the fuel side, at the time of this writing, California had the highest gas price in the nation. California readers will know first-hand that this is not an outlier nor a consequence solely of the war with Iran — the states’ high gas prices have been high for a long time. Epstein’s research suggests that this is due to policy decisions: high excise taxes, cap-and-trade carbon tax, the reformulated gasoline mandate, among others. California’s energy woes should be a red flag for the rest of the country, particularly when they serve as Gov. Gavin Newsom’s audition tape for his presidential aspirations. New and young voters in 2028 should think carefully about the implications of their vote on energy policy.

Young Americans are taught that the justification behind all this is that we’re in a “climate crisis.” Epstein disagrees. He points out that “climate catastrophists have been claiming climate crisis for 40 years,” and during those same years, the climate death rate has fallen 98%, making it so “human beings are safer than ever from climate.” He argues that fossil-fueled — i.e. reliably fueled — prosperity gave human beings the tools to manage it. CO2 emissions have contributed to roughly 1 degree of warming over a century and a half. That is real warming, but “mild and manageable.”

Those still concerned about catastrophic climate change have a more reliable clean-energy solution that is almost never considered: nuclear energy. Nuclear is one of the safest and most reliable energy sources (including by the standards of those who believe in catastrophic climate change) and has the largest capacity out of all the clean energy sources. Americans should demand that nuclear energy be unleashed to keep up with our energy needs, current and future, particularly as data centers and new technological advancements shape the economy.

Most young Americans weren’t taught the radical importance of reliable, abundant, and affordable energy, instead learning to fear their own energy needs and to embrace energy forms that can’t live up to the demands of an advanced civilization. Given the increasing energy demands of our age, young Americans will have to be wiser than their teachers, embracing the powerful and reliable energy sources like nuclear that can sustain the unmatched quality of American life.

Agustina Vergara Cid is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. She is a senior contributor for Young Voices, a center-right nonprofit agency. Follow her on X: @agustinavcid

Orange County Register

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Agustina Vergara Cid: Young Americans need more clarity about energy

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