Robert F. Kennedy Jr. really nailed it with a recent article he wrote for Huffington Post, in which he argues that “the Chinese are treating the energy technology competition if it were an arms race”.
“China will soon make us as dependent on Chinese green technology for the next century as we have been on Saudi oil during the last.”
Do we really want to be more dependent on China?
I had hoped that America would pick up the torch and lead the World towards a green global economy. However, opponents — like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — wouldn’t have any qualms about strip-mining Yellowstone if it meant a few ounces of coal or oil.
Perhaps fears about America “going green” while China continues to make things cheaply thanks to all the burnt coal they’re spewing out of their factories; I can almost understand the “if you can’t beat them, join them” mentality expressed here. Almost. But that’s not really the case, China is embracing renewable energy sources… much faster than we are.
China is spending as much or more on greentech as it does on its military, hundreds of billions of dollars annually on renewable energy and grid infrastructure improvements. Those investments, if not vigorously countered, will effectively erode America’s greentech industry leadership and secure China’s dominance.
At the end of all of this, it could very well be the Chinese that are complaining about America’s archaic production methods that are ruining the environment.
China already has our jobs and wallets; are you ready to give them your energy as well?