JABULANI SIKHAKHANE: Mantashe shares common ground with fossil fuel lobbyists

Support for wind and solar as energy sources has declined in the US since the end of Donald Trump’s first administration in 2021, driven mainly by Republican supporters. This decline coincides with a shift by US companies to toning down references to climate change in their communication with shareholders. 

These two developments have implications for countries such as SA in that they strengthen the voices of those who have been punting fossil fuels. The most prominent voice in support of fossil fuels in the SA government has been mineral & petroleum resources minister Gwede Mantashe. 

A recent survey by Pew Research, which has been tracking American views on energy production and related issues for many years, found that even though wind and solar are still favoured by the majority, support for these renewables has declined since May 2020, the last full year of the first Trump administration. 

At the end of the first Trump administration 83% of Americans surveyed by Pew favoured wind power. This had declined to 68% by May 2025. Solar showed similar readings — down from 90% to 77%. 

The swing has been driven by Republicans. In 2020 84% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents supported more solar power, and 75% wind power. This has since dropped to 61% (solar) and 48% (wind power). 

Support for the expansion of offshore drilling for oil and gas has increased from 63% in 2020 to 75%, hydraulic fracturing from 56% to 69%, coal mining from 54% to 67% and nuclear power from 53% to 69%. 

Overall, the percentage of US adults who support the expansion of renewables (wind and solar) fell from 79% in May 2020 to 60% in May 2025, the biggest drop being among Republicans — down from 65% to 33%. 

These readings come as US corporations have been toning down their language on climate change and related matters. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported last week that US companies have been “tweaking — sometimes overhauling — what they say about their sustainability and climate efforts” in communications with shareholders. The change follows the Trump administration’s push to scrape environmental and diversity policies off the US’s fabric.

WSJ data shows that the number of proxy statements using “net zero” has dropped 32% and “carbon neutral” has reduced by 30% compared with a similar period last year. 

Quoting Stanford business professor David Larcker, the WSJ said that besides politics, the risk of lawsuits or reputational repercussions (if what corporates said in their documents was “overly rosy”) was another factor explaining the change in tone and content of corporate reporting. 

In another report in March the WSJ reported that BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, had withdrawn from Net Zero Asset Managers, an initiative launched by global investment firms in 2020 in support of the goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or earlier. 

BlackRock’s withdrawal from the initiative marked the end of the firm’s support for advocacy for environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Such advocacy has fallen victim to a pushback by the Trump administration. 

However, the anti-ESG lobby predates the new Trump administration. It has been in gestation for some time, with strong support from fossil fuel lobby groups. 

Messages by the fossil fuel lobbyists are likely to find receptive ears in the Mantashes of this world, who have been arguing that each country should have a right to continue using its natural endowments — coal in SA’s case. 

• Sikhakhane, a former spokesperson for the finance minister, National Treasury and SA Reserve Bank, is editor of The Conversation Africa. He writes in his personal capacity.