Answerable chiefly to their shareholders and driven by the need for high quarterly profits, private companies will voluntarily embrace renewables only if it won’t impact their earnings or if they are forced to by law. If renewables are seen as less profitable, at least in the short term, these bottom-line companies simply won’t make the switch. Which is why, as German antinuclear activist Ralf Gauger puts it, more and more people are coming to the conclusion that, “Energy supply and environmental issues should not be left in the hands of private for-profit interests.”
