I couldn't disagree more. I'm going to point to Gary Stevenson [1] for why. He could probably get to the point faster but here's the core premise: Europe responded to the energy shocks since 2020 by transferring the better part of a trillion euros to energy companies in the US and the Middle East, particularly for LNG.

Imagine where Europe might be if half a trillion euros was spent on renewables.

The core problem as he describes it is that European governments don't own these providers so it's a wealth transfer from taxpayers to the ultra-wealthy.

Back in the pandemic, Spain was one of the few countries that tackled the inflation shock in a better way with a windfall profits tax. Interestingly, Europe is talking about doing that now [2]. That would be smarter.

Energy prices disproportionately hurt the poor [3]. If the government owned or part-owned the energy (like Norway does) then you could offset that without burning cash to stick your head in the sand for a little bit longer.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi265I48MdI

[2]: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/04/europe-energy-windfall-profi...

[3]: https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2023/rising-household...