{"id":427946,"date":"2026-02-25T12:08:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427946"},"modified":"2026-02-25T12:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:08:08","slug":"cuba-hits-net-zero-first-and-the-lights-go-out-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427946","title":{"rendered":"Cuba Hits Net Zero First\u2014And the Lights Go Out. Victory?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cuba is facing an acute fuel and electricity shortage, exacerbated by:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Widespread blackouts, humanitarian challenges, and reliance on emergency measures like increased solar panel installations (with Chinese assistance adding ~1,000 MW of solar recently).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intensified US sanctions and executive actions (under the Trump administration) blocking oil shipments from countries like Venezuela and Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resulting near-collapse of oil imports (e.g., reports of zero oil imports in January 2026 for the first time in a decade).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has drastically reduced fossil fuel use (especially imported oil for power generation and transport), pushing the country’s energy consumption and emissions toward very low levels\u2014essentially “net zero” by forced deprivation rather than deliberate, prosperous transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cuba Becomes The First Country To Reach Net Zero. Shouldn’t We Be Celebrating?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From The Manhattan Contrarian<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 By Francis Menton<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There it was on the front page of Saturday\u2019s New York Times<\/a>: with a small assist from the United States, the island nation of Cuba has almost entirely ended the use of fossil fuels. Finally, we have the first country in the world to achieve the climate movement\u2019s Holy Grail and nirvana \u2014 Net Zero! Or at least a very close approximation. This should be cause for a huge celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You would think that the Times, which has been demanding the elimination of fossil fuels for at least a couple of decades, would be leading the celebrations. But weirdly, now that Cuba has finally shown the way, the Times chooses to put a completely different spin on the achievement. The headline and subheadline are (print edition): \u201cU.S. Choking Oil Deliveries To Cuba Ports; Military Action Brings a Nation to Its Knees.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The piece reports that the Trump administration is helping Cuba to achieve Net Zero by preventing oil tankers from landing there. Somehow in this piece, that is spun as a bad thing. It has brought Cuba \u201cto its knees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funny thing is that here in the U.S., it was just over a year ago that we had President Biden and an administration full of zealous environmentalists who were using every governmental power at their disposal to force Americans to stop using fossil fuels. By Executive Order 14057 of December 8, 2021<\/a>, Biden had directed all federal agencies to pursue an aggressive \u201call of government\u201d operation to achieve \u201cnet zero\u201d on an accelerated schedule. Goals number 1 and 2 from that EO are \u201c100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity on a net annual basis by 2030,\u201d<\/em> and \u201c100 percent zero-emission vehicle acquisitions by 2035.\u201d <\/em>In 2023, the Department of Transportation released a \u201cBlueprint\u201d<\/a> for eliminating all carbon emissions from the transportation sector. In 2024 EPA released a plan<\/a> to eliminate fossil fuels from electricity generation. Similar initiatives were everywhere in the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did the Times ever suggest that government forcing an end to the use of fossil fuels was \u201cbringing America to its knees\u201d? Or even that forcing the end of fossil fuels was any sort of a problem? If they ever suggested anything like that, I never saw it. What I saw instead was that the Times was the biggest cheerleader for the use of government coercion to suppress the use of fossil fuels, at least if the use was by Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, if you believe yesterday\u2019s article, the banishment of fossil fuels, which was to be such a boon to the United States, is somehow a problem in Cuba. From the Times article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Cuba, people are struggling with frequent blackouts, shortages of gasoline and cooking gas and dwindling supplies of diesel that power the nation\u2019s water pumps. Trash is piling up, food prices are soaring, schools are canceling classes and hospitals are suspending surgeries.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a picture from the Times of the \u201cgarbage piling up\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What am I missing? Since when are fuels like oil, gasoline, natural gas, and diesel any longer necessary, or even useful or economic, for providing energy to the people? The Times for years has been pounding a relentless drumbeat emphasizing that wind and solar are now the cheapest ways to produce energy, and all sane people are flocking to them as the best sources. For example, from August 17, 2023<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the planet registers the highest temperatures on record, rising in some places to levels incompatible with human life, governments around the world are pouring trillions of dollars into clean energy to cut the carbon pollution that is broiling the planet. The cost of generating electricity from the sun and wind is falling fast and in many areas is now cheaper than gas, oil or coal. Private investment is flooding into companies that are jockeying for advantage in emerging green industries.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, to eliminate use of fossil fuels all Cuba would have to do would be to slap up a few wind turbines and solar panels, and then it could run its economy on the abundant renewable electricity without need for any of those icky fossil fuels. And saving money too! Cuba actually has a bunch of wind farms<\/a>. Why doesn\u2019t it just crank them up to provide the power formerly supplied by the fossil fuels?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems like the people who are writing these pieces for the Times don\u2019t read their own newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, let me be the first to congratulate the people of Cuba on being the first to achieve Net Zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cuba’s renewable energy efforts have accelerated significantly in recent years, driven by a long-standing goal to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, improve energy efficiency, and build resilience amid chronic shortages and external pressures like U.S. sanctions. These efforts are part of the country’s National Energy Transition Strategy (published in September 2024) and its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, submitted in early 2025.Key Targets and Commitments<\/p>\n\n\n\n