Environmentalists and other advocates of clean or renewable energy are in post-election despair. They do not need to be, as the future of their cause does not rely on the White House.

Clean-energy advocates aren't happy about Donald Trump's election to the presidency because he promised to end the war on coal. He is not against continued production of other traditional fuels, which partly explains the enthusiastic post-election response of the stock market. Energy, from any source, is essential to prosperity.

More energy lowers costs of transportation, manufacturing and nearly all profitable endeavors. It lowers costs of heating homes and work commutes, which facilitates consumers to buy more and increase the velocity of capital. A higher velocity of capital means more activity geared toward advancing society. Plentiful, affordable energy is the foundation of a growing economy.

Environmental anxiety about Trump's election was only exacerbated by his selection of a climate change skeptic, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, to run the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt has a history of defending fossil fuel production and is suing the EPA to stop President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan.

Here's the really good news for clean-energy advocates: Fossil fuels, including coal, are not a threat to solar arrays, windmills and other new and emerging energy sources.

The world can always use more power. We don't need a coal mine to fail for a windmill to succeed. It doesn't work that way.

A diverse portfolio of energy-producing assets benefits us all. The world's standard of living will only increase if we have the stability of energy produced by wind, solar, natural gas, coal, crude, underground thermal, hydroelectric turbines and more. If one or more fails or falls short, for any reason, the others continue to provide.

The best news of all for environmentalists: Investors and markets ultimately have the greatest influence on our energy future. Private investment — not federal bureaucrats, presidents and regulations — will determine the future of innovative power.

For environmentalists to achieve a greater proliferation of wind turbines and solar arrays, they need investors with vision, passion and guts. In a market less driven by mandates and subsidies, investors will emerge to pursue seemingly limitless options.

The Associated Press reported Monday on a few captains of industry who are putting together a $1 billion fund, Breakthrough Energy Coalition, to develop technologies they believe will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower the price of energy. They expect lower prices because that's the typical result of increasing supply. If the $1 billion investment goes well, the investors may progressively increase the size of the fund.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates quietly started Breakthrough a year ago with a handful of other successful business entrepreneurs. He announced the coalition Monday but has been working on it since November 2015.

The fund will nurture clean-energy technologies, capitalizing startups dedicated to reducing emissions from electric plants, transportation, agriculture and manufacturing.

Gates spoke with Trump about the plan a few weeks ago.

"He seemed to think innovation might be a fruitful area and said that we should talk more," Gates said.

Energy developers are not in the business of sentiment, clinging emotionally to fossil fuels. They are in the business of selling heat, electricity and propulsion. They are in the business of earning profits and reinvesting them for more. That's why the future of sustainable, renewable energy has growing market appeal. It's why the future of energy relies more on investment than on federal mandates and EPA bureaucrats.

Environmentalists should no longer despair. Trump's election neither makes nor breaks the trend toward clean power. An increasingly friendly market provides their best hope.

REPRINTED FROM THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE