“He’s being diplomatic, saying it’s a fantastic organization,” said the official, granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks. “He very smartly divided the political from the organizational, saying, ‘Let’s leave politics out of this, let’s focus on the real world [and] stop wasting our resources on scenarios that are zero percent likely.”
Europe shrugs
A steady line of European energy ministers pushed back against Wright’s pressure on Wednesday, dismissing his calls to abandon the phase-out of fossil fuels and insisting they would continue building renewables.
Austria’s energy secretary told POLITICO Europe would not be “blackmailed” by the U.S. on clean energy policy.
“We should not [allow ourselves to be] blackmailed by him,” Austrian State Secretary for Energy Elisabeth Zehetner said in an interview with POLITICO on the sidelines of a summit of IEA member countries.
Renewables are key for growth and affordability, Zehetner argued, adding that the U.S. focus on fossil fuels at the expense of green energy went against its own interests.
“I can’t understand the argument of the U.S. — they have huge potential in renewable energy, so for one who wants to make a lot of economic deals, they reject a lot of economic chances,” she said. “Maybe it’s an ideological thing.”