According to a five-year policy plan released by China’s National Energy Administration, the country will be investing $361 billion towards renewable energy by 2020 Yizhu Wang reported for Who.What.Why in January 2017. China’s plans, Wang wrote, contrast with what the US appears to be poised to do under newly elected President Donald Trump. While Trump claimed he would provide Americans with more jobs in the coal industry, China is shutting down 38% of its coalmines, and instead plans to create 3 million more jobs in renewable energy. As for the US, subsidies are quickly declining in the pursuit of renewable energy, and will continue to do so, per the Energy Information Administration.
For China, this will result in the costs of solar and wind power decreasing greatly, and that means they will be joining a competitive market with coal-power. Additionally, this will be of great assistance in battling China’s significant problems with smog. Overall, these motions towards green, clean, renewable energy in China is supposed to help its economy tremendously, as well as remedy problems it has faced regarding global warming and public health. Trump continues to deny the realities of these issues in America.
As of March 11, 2017, US corporate media have done little to document China’s efforts and improvements. While corporate news coverage has addressed President Trump’s plans to defund and shut down many renewable energy projects, this coverage does not discuss China’s plans or compared the two. Other independent (and China-based) news broadcasters have covered the situation in China, but again none compared the different approaches of the two countries like Yizhu Wang’s report does.
Source: Yizhu Wang, “China Invests Big Bucks in Green Energy while US Goes Dirty,” Who. What. Why., January 16, 2017, http://whowhatwhy.org/2017/01/16/china-invests-big-bucks-green-energy-us-goes-dirty/.
Student Researcher: Lily Adcock (College of Western Idaho)
Faculty Evaluator: Michelle Mahoney (College of Western Idaho)