That whooshing sound was China passing the United States in clean-energy investment last year, a potentially ominous sign for business leaders who hope to establish a domestic foothold in green manufacturing, according to a new report.
"There are reasons to be concerned about America's competitive position in the clean-energy marketplace," said the study, issued by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Worldwide investment in clean energy, a majority of which went to solar- and wind-power projects, was up 230percent since 2005.
About $162 billion was invested last year. China passed the U.S. for the top spot with $34.6 billion. The U.S. posted $18.6 billion and the United Kingdom, $11.2billion.
"China is emerging as the world's clean-energy powerhouse," said Phyllis Cuttino, global-warming campaign director for the Pew Environment Group, in a conference call.
But Tim Haab, an Ohio State University environmental economist, doesn't give much credence to just one year of China's results.
"Year-to-year fluctuations don't hold much weight if you want to know what's going on," he said. "To me, the bigger question is, 'Are we investing in the right places?'"
He doesn't know of anyone who has a good answer to that question. For example, there is major disagreement about the relative merits of different technologies, such as wind and solar power.
via www.dispatch.com
Of all the dumb things I may have said in the interview, that may have been the least dumb. So I guess that's a good thing.
