The maniacal focus on “ESG,” or environmental, social and governance, that has characterized western policymaking for decades is being necessarily reconsidered. What will replace it is a more pragmatic approach focused on national security, energy independence in a de-globalizing world, and a more measured and responsible decarbonization. Abandoned are the Green fantasies of power systems subsisting solely on solar, wind and batteries: These ideas have manifestly failed.

Global bitcoin mining uses about 15 gigawatts of power today, around 40% of which is U.S.-based. If the predictions of miners are to be believed, at least 30 GW to 40 GW of expansions are planned in the U.S. over the next two to three years. Many of these installations will be done in direct partnership with energy firms, including the largest renewable asset owners. Adding bitcoin mining as an offtake dramatically improves the economics of new wind and solar installations. Despite what critics say, these partnerships are genuine, and these models work.

Virtually all miners engage in voluntary or contractual curtailment when demand outpaces supply and power prices surge. With little fanfare, miners habitually curtail their usage, helping smooth out demand peaks. The growth of this “demand response” or flexible load capacity directly contributes to grid decarbonization, allowing intermittent renewables to penetrate further than they would otherwise. Miners effectively sell insurance to grid operators.

Clean energy campuses built on stranded energy sites by bitcoin miners will become a vital part of our industrial future. Even if bitcoin disappears, these sites will be repurposed for other industries, from clean hydrogen electrolysis to other types of location-agnostic computing.

If strategists like Luke Gromen are to be believed, ending the post-1971 petrodollar reserve system could restore an American trade surplus and revitalize domestic manufacturing. If that’s true, the U.S. will need a vast, responsibly renewable and high-energy grid to support a modern manufacturing base. So, it’s time to accept reality, abandon neo-Malthusian ideas of de-growth or energy shame and lean into American energy supremacy.

Abandoning Green dreams and accepting the hard realities of physics are vital first steps. Following that, let’s leave these broken ESG ideas, stop the politicization of finance and unleash the bitcoin miners.