“I haven’t been able to find any wind farms in China.” – see below.
Politico: (paywalled)
The world’s two biggest climate polluters are racing in opposite directions: The U.S. is chasing fossil fuels while China entrenches its dominance over clean energy.
That divergence was on full display this week in Davos, Switzerland, where global leaders attending the World Economic Forum got an earful from President Donald Trump on “money-losing windmills” and how much oil the U.S. will get from Venezuela.
China’s vice premier struck a far different tone, Sara Schonhardt writes. He Lifeng spoke of the country’s aim for “closer partnerships” that boost clean energy and “ensure the free flow of quality green products globally.”
China already dominates clean energy supply chains and is rapidly installing wind and solar capacity. The U.S. is the leading exporter of fossil fuels, boosted by a liquefied natural gas industry whose booming exports surged even more under former President Joe Biden after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But while Biden also poured billions of dollars into building a domestic clean energy industry, Trump aims to tear it down. His energy pet peeve: wind.
“One thing I’ve noticed is that the more windmills a country has, the more money that country loses and the worse that country is doing,” Trump said in Davos. “China makes almost all the windmills and yet I haven’t been able to find any wind farms in China. Do you ever think of that?”
As Zack Colman writes, that’s nonsense. China is by far the world’s biggest producer of electricity from wind, installing 561 gigawatts by the end of 2024.
The No. 2 producer? The U.S., with 155 gigawatts of capacity.
Trump’s efforts to destroy the industry, paired with transmission constraints and other obstacles, mean the U.S. wind industry could become nearly stagnant in a few years. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects onshore wind installations to fall from an expected 8 gigawatts this year to little more than 2 gigawatts in 2028.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump launched a campaign against wind energy with an executive order to stop leasing and permits for offshore wind farms.
The administration went on to block wind farms already under construction, while Trump himself vowed in Cabinet meetings that he would not allow any to be built under his watch, as he criticized them for being ugly, inefficient and harmful to animals.
A year later, Trump appears to be losing his war on wind on several fronts. In court last week, three of the five offshore projects that were blocked won injunctions to continue construction. Two remaining cases are expected to be heard soon.
And in recent months an informal coalition of companies has emerged across the energy industry, including oil and clean energy firms, to push for an end to the targeting of wind energy, fearing they could fall prey to the same tactics in the future.
“We know what administrations can do to our projects when they have opposition to building pipelines or other energy infrastructure. This has never just been about wind,” said Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute lobby group.
The blocked wind projects have become inextricably linked to a push in Congress to overhaul the system for permitting infrastructure projects, a top legislative objective for oil firms. While a bill passed in the House, Senate debate broke down after the administration’s Dec. 22 stop-work orders for all five offshore wind projects under construction on the East Coast. Negotiations remain on hold.
“It’s time for both sides to put their weapons down and let’s work on getting comprehensive permitting reform done in this Congress,” Sommers said.
Still, analysts agree that Trump’s personal preferences are driving the anti-wind policy. More than a decade ago, he unsuccessfully sued to stop offshore wind turbines built near a Scottish golf course he owned and has apparently nursed a grudge ever since. The mounting court losses and industry pressure may not change his mind.
Its like listening to your crazy old uncle.