The following article, A Humiliating Green Detour: Europe Scrambles to Save Face, was first published on The Black Sphere.

Oh, Europe—land of endless bureaucracy, superior lectures on climate virtue, and now, the latest in a long line of policy faceplants.

Just when you thought the continent couldn’t get any more entertaining, the European Commission is scrambling to relax its beloved 2035 effective ban on new combustion engine cars. That’s right: the same ban they rammed through in 2023, preaching that manmade climate change was the “existential threat” requiring us all to ditch reliable engines for glitchy, overpriced electric vehicles (EVs) that nobody really wants.

Chalk this up as another massive win for pragmatists, realists, and—let’s be honest—anyone with a functioning brain who saw this coming from outer space.

Apparently, Europeans have finally noticed that blackouts, unaffordable energy bills, and freezing homes in winter aren’t the utopian future they signed up for. Who could’ve predicted that mandating a technology that’s still lagging in range, charging infrastructure, and affordability would backfire?

Oh wait—conservatives did.

Top-down green mandates are a recipe for economic suicide, job losses in auto manufacturing, and reliance on Chinese batteries mined with child labor. But no, the leftist elites in Brussels knew better. They were going to “save the planet” by forcing everyone into EVs, consequences be damned.

Fast-forward to December 2025, and the European Commission is poised to announce major concessions next week—likely slashing the 100% CO2 emissions reduction target for new car fleets to a more “flexible” 90% from 2035. That means keeping internal combustion engines (ICE) alive, probably through loopholes for plug-in hybrids, range-extenders, and even synthetic e-fuels. Senior EU lawmakers like Manfred Weber, head of the powerful European People’s Party, have already spilled the beans: The full ban is “off the table.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is cheering it on, pushing for “technology neutrality” because, surprise, electric-only isn’t cutting it.

This isn’t some minor tweak—it’s a humiliating admission that the radical green agenda was built on sand.

Let’s revisit 2023. The EU triumphantly locked in the ban despite Germany’s initial reluctance, complete with virtue-signaling press releases about reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. They even carved out a tiny e-fuels exemption after Berlin threw a fit.

Now, just two years later, they’re desperately backpedaling under pressure from carmakers, governments, and—gasp—actual market reality. Seven EU countries, representing half the bloc’s population, begged Brussels to rethink the whole thing, warning it would crater their auto industry. And Spain’s socialist PM Pedro Sánchez is out there clutching pearls, urging no weakening because it might delay “modernization investments.” Translation: Even some lefties are panicking that their EV pipe dream is evaporating.

The left spent decades scaremongering about the “end of the world” if we didn’t ban fossil fuels yesterday. Greta Thunberg how-dare-you’d us into submission. Hollywood celebs jetted to climate conferences to demand we peasants give up our gas guzzlers. And the EU’s “energy Gestapo”—those unelected commissars in Brussels—put a gun to everyone’s head: Comply with our EV mandates or face fines that would bankrupt automakers.

They shoved trillions in subsidies into the coffers of those offering an unready technology, ignoring that most people can’t afford a $50,000+ EV, don’t have home charging, or live in apartments where plugging in means running an extension cord across the sidewalk like some third-world hack.

Now? EVs are piling up unsold on dealer lots worldwide.

Global EV sales growth tanked to its slowest pace in November since early 2024—barely 6%. China’s market has plateaued and North America is headed for its first annual decline since 2019 after the U.S. ditched that ridiculous $7,500 tax credit boondoggle.

In the U.S., registrations plummeted 42% year-over-year. Europe’s “embattled” auto giants like Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW, and Stellantis are lobbying frantically because consumers aren’t biting. Why buy an EV when gas is reliable, hybrids make more sense, and the grid can’t even handle mass charging without brownouts?

The irony is delicious. The left indirectly admits failure by watering this down, but they’ll never say it outright. Instead, they’ll spin it as “pragmatic flexibility” or blame “Chinese competition” and “trade issues.” Sure, those issues play a role—Germany’s cold feet stem partly from fearing Beijing’s cheap EV flood. However, the real elephant in the room? Reality biting back.

And let’s give credit where it’s due: President Trump’s no-nonsense energy policies have accelerated this global wake-up call.

Trump never bought the climate hoax farce.

He pulled out of the Paris Accords, dismantled Biden’s green lunacy, and unleashed American energy dominance—drilling, fracking, pipelines galore. Result? America became the world’s top oil and gas producer, slashing energy costs at home while sticking it to adversaries like Russia, Iran, and Venezuela.

Europe, weakened by Merkel’s Russia-friendly pipelines and post-Merkel green zealotry, got a harsh lesson when Putin turned off the taps. Now, with Trump back, the world sees that energy realism works. Cheap, abundant fossil fuels (and nuclear!) keep lights on, homes warm, and economies humming.

Germany—the EU’s economic engine—noticed big time. No more Merkel-era kowtowing to green extremists. New leadership is prioritizing jobs, competitiveness, and sanity. What Berlin wants, Brussels often delivers. So here we are: The ban that was supposed to “save mankind” is getting neutered before it even fully kicks in.

But don’t pop the champagne yet—these leftovers like the 55% emissions cut by 2030 are still on the books. Bet your bottom dollar they’ll get walked back too as the leftist house of cards collapses further. Automakers want hybrids and efficient ICEs to survive; battery makers and charging companies cling to the old targets like Titanic passengers to deck chairs. Divided they are, but reality unites against the mandate maniacs.

This pivot is astonishingly swift.

The EU agreed to the full ban in February 2023 amid fanfare. Blink—and poof—it’s diluted.

The energy industry is on notice: Innovate in solar, batteries, hydrogen, and efficient fuels? Absolutely, and it will happen organically through markets. But forcing it with government guns to citizens’ heads? That boomeranged spectacularly, turning the gun right back on the coercers.

Think about the broader mockery here. The left’s entire “Green Deal” was sold as inevitable progress. Billions wasted on subsidies that distorted markets, killed jobs in traditional auto sectors, and made Europe dependent on China for 90% of batteries. Now they’re admitting—without admitting—that conservatives were right: Free markets, innovation without coercion, and reliable energy sources win the day.

Remember all those smug predictions?

“EVs will dominate by 2030!” “Combustion engines are dead!” Meanwhile, hybrids are surging because they’re practical. People want cars that work in real life, not virtue signals that leave you stranded in the snow.

And the hypocrisy? Priceless. The same elites flying private jets to Davos demanded you freeze in the dark for the planet. Now, facing voter backlash, economic pain, and unsold EV inventories, they’re folding like a cheap lawn chair. Spain’s Sánchez warns against relaxation because it risks delaying EV investments—code for “please don’t expose our failure too quickly.”

This isn’t just Europe’s embarrassment—it’s a global signal. Trump’s America First energy boom showed the way: Produce abundantly, export dominantly, and let adversaries choke on their own sanctions. Europe took note, especially as U.S. LNG filled the gap left by Russia.

In the end, advances in cleaner tech will come—not from Brussels bureaucrats playing God, but from engineers and entrepreneurs freed from mandates. The left’s coercive green tyranny has been exposed as the emperor with no clothes. They indirectly confess defeat every time they dilute these rules, too cowardly to admit conservatives called it from day one.

As usual, pragmatism triumphs. Black energy is back—reliable, affordable, and unapologetic. The green lie crumbles, one humiliating rollback at a time.

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