Could Trump cost U.S. on clean energy?

The Trump administration’s plans to dismantle the Clean Power Plan and its waffling on the Paris climate accords could push renewable energy investors away from the United States, according to the accounting and consulting firm EY.

Every year, the firm ranks countries on its Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index, which examines a nation’s policies, incentives, natural resources and need for renewable energy. Last year, the U.S. topped the firm’s list of potential renewable energy growth following the extension of the wind production tax credit.

But this year’s index shows the United States falling behind China and India, as investors worry that the Trump administration will eliminate clean energy tax credits and other incentives.

EY’s report also acknowledged that President Donald Trump has yet to follow through on many of his campaign promises to boost fossil fuels. For instance, Trump has not said whether he intends to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accords, an agreement by nearly 200 countries to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The president has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to review the Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce carbon emissions from power plants, but EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has said he will not challenge a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that carbon dioxide is a pollutant that must be regulated.

Even Trump’s plans to rescue the flagging coal industry and put miners back to work might be held in check by economics that favor cleaner energy sources, such as natural gas, the report said. Market forces suggest that natural gas and renewables will account for the bulk of new power capacity.