I read some of How The World Really Works by Vaclav Smil. A basic premise he introduces in the book is that GDP or the prosperity of a country is deeply related to its energy consumption. There are only a handful of countries that can produce abundant cheap fossil fuels, the US as one of them. The United States in the 20th century witness unparalleled growth as a consequence of securing said cheap fossil fuels. Some have referred the 20th Century as the American Century because the US dominated in just about everything.
Trump Presidency marks the end of the American Century. With the recent law passed gutting clean energy production (solar and wind), we have ceded to China in the clean energy revolution. From cheap electric vehicles, batteries, PVs, and wind turbines, China is responsible for half of all global renewable deployment. Half. It is setting up the infrastructure necessary to build the next generation of technology and living standards. No longer are the Chinese copying American IP, but instead truly innovating and creating a future, a Chinese future.
The Atlantic shares some astonishing pictures in the sheer scale of what China is doing. Ana Taylor writes:
As the Trump administration’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” eliminates many clean-energy incentives in the U.S., China continues huge investments in wind and solar power, reportedly accounting for 74 percent of all projects now under construction worldwide.
These few pictures are incredible:
I am glad the clean energy revolution is still speeding ahead, but we gave up this century when Trump signed said bill into law.