Regardless of what you think about electric cars, solar energy, or wind power, these industries are rapidly growing worldwide with billions of dollars of commerce. China is is rapidly dominating these technologies, selling electric cars, wind, and solar technology all over the world. Meanwhile, the United States government is suppressing wind, solar and EVs in the US, frustrating our industries in favor of outdated, expensive, polluting technology.
Last year, China installed more than twice as much solar energy than the rest of the world combined. Countries other than the US installed 22% more solar than the year before, with India increasing its investment by 50% over 2024. Africa bought 60% more solar panels than the year before all from China which is setting up solar factories on that continent of 1.6 billion people. Meanwhile, the US only increased solar installations by 4% as federal incentives were ended by the Trump administration.
Why is this happening? Because solar is by far the cheapest source of electricity available. It is fast to build, and with new battery technology, it can produce power 24/7. It is a perfect solution for power hungry data centers. Solar technology is advancing fast, making solar more efficient than in years past and China is leading the US on all aspects of solar research and probably will dominate the industry for decades into the future.
Same is true with electric cars and trucks. In the last administration the federal government was investing in electric cars and charging stations which now account for 10% of US auto sales. US automakers make good electric cars, but after Trump imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico, both of those countries opened their markets to Chinese EVs which are flooding in, shutting US made EVs out. Trump’s efforts to stop EV sales in the US will be a blow to American automakers and he has told US automakers to focus on gasoline powered cars with little pollution control and poor gas mileage.
The US wind energy market is also rising fast, but Donald Trump’s administration has cancelled wind projects on federal land and has stopped construction of wind projects off the east coast even when they were almost finished, based on false pretenses. These policies are depressing the US wind industry while China is racing ahead, selling wind turbines worldwide, including in the US, while Trump continues to say, “wind power doesn’t work.”
Trump has also actively discouraged both wind and solar construction on private land while demanding that utility companies keep old coal fired power plants open even though they lose money for the companies and they poison the air.
It is difficult to overstate how damaging Trump’s ignorant hostility to renewable energy is to our economy and our environment. Global heating is not a “hoax” or a “scam” as Trump repeats. It is a reality verified by a majority of scientists worldwide and understood as a crisis by governments everywhere except in the US.
By now its obvious that Trump’s personal opinions, no matter how ignorant or destructive, become federal policy in the Trump administration. He has no advisors to give him greater understandings and nobody to warn him that his prejudices will hurt millions of people.
Not only has Trump handed renewable energy technology leadership to China, but he has also suppressed those industries here. And contrary to Trump’s belief, wind and solar are much cheaper than natural gas-powered electricity and coal fired electricity, which he promotes. Coal costs about three times more than solar to generate electricity. Natural gas pollutes and new nuclear power will take decades to deploy.
With data centers being built nationwide, Trump’s policies are rapidly increasing electric costs for Americans as he demands obsolete power sources for ideological reasons.
America can lead in modern energy technology, but this president needs to get out of our way.
Tom Ribe
