WE HAVE EXPOSED THIS CONUNDRUM BEFORE [16 March 2026]... BUT IT IS COMFORTING TO SEE IT BEING DISCUSSED BY CNN TODAY... 

The Iran war was supposed to be a short, sharp strike that brought down the regime within a few weeks. Instead, the US finds itself enmeshed in a conflict that’s upending the world’s energy system.

As oil and gas prices soar, there have been noticeable shifts toward clean energy, and it’s raised a profoundly weird question: Could this war make President Donald Trump an accidental climate president, at least on the global stage?

How the Iran war could make Trump an accidental climate president

By Laura Paddison

It would be a deep irony, if so. Trump is the climate-denier-in-chief. He has called global warming a “hoax,” clean energy a “scam,”pushed fossil fuels, and unraveled a slew of climate and environmental protections.

But as the war grinds into its eighth month, it’s highlighting the immense vulnerability of fossil fuels to geopolitical instability. There are signs of global clean energy moves, even as the picture remains complex, with some countries scrambling for coal instead.

The longer the war continues, some experts say, the bigger the impact it could have on undermining global oil and gas demand.

“With all (Trump’s) efforts to encourage fossil fuel use, he might end up accelerating their phase down instead,” said Samantha Gross, director of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at the Brookings Institution.

The launch of the US and Israel’s war on Iran in February led to the biggest oil shock in history. Iran strangled the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that transported roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas, sending the cost of a barrel of oil surging over $100.

Many analysts predicted the price spike would be short-term, but it has persisted even as Iran’s chokehold over the strait has loosened.Shipping costs to get oil through the Strait of Hormuz have surged,and new fronts are opening up in the conflict, including attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi oil facilities and tankers.

It’s all affecting demand. Back in January, the International Energy Agency forecast global oil demand would rise by 930,000 barrels per day in 2026. By September, the picture had changed dramatically. The IEA now forecasts a decline of 2.5 million barrels a day due to the “impasse” in negotiations between the US and Iran.

Less oil means less planet-warming pollution. Global fossil fuel emissions are on track to fall around 0.5% in 2026, according to an analysis from Carbon Brief, a non-profit climate change publication. It would mark the first fall since 2020, when the Covid pandemic ground the world to a halt.

It also means big shifts in transportation, where most of the world’s oil goes. People are driving and flying less, but these are likely temporary changes, said Sverre Alvik, vice president and energy transition outlook director at DNV, a Norway-based consultancy. Much more permanent are the vehicles people are buying.

Global sales of electric vehicles were up 4% in the second quarter of 2026, according to the IEA, which said the Middle East crisis “has clearly reinforced the case for EVs as a way to address energy security and fuel cost concerns.”

Australia and parts of Asia have seen EV booms, as has Europe, where sales hit record highs in 2026, according to a report from the non-profit advocacy group Transport & Environment. Fuel prices were a key factor, with diesel reaching particularly painful highs, up 38% since the start of the war.

The US bucks the trend, however. EV sales have slumped as the Trump administration has cut support for them and effectively banned cheaper Chinese models. They’re down more than 30% this year so far, according to research firm Motor Intelligence.

READ MORE: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/10/12/climate/trump-iran-war-clean-energy-oil-gas

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