China, the U.S. and the World’s Energy Future

0:00Today on State of the World, China, the U.S. and the world's energy future.

0:09You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the day's most vital international stories, up close where they're happening. It's Wednesday, November 19th. I'm Greg Dixon. World leaders have gathered in Brazil this month for COP30, the UN Climate Conference. The U.S. is not there. But China is. When it comes to the energy transition, the U.S. and China couldn't be on more different paths. China is moving away from fossil fuels. The U.S. is doubling down on them. Experts say this will not only have consequences for the climate, but also for these countries' economies. On today's episode, we're going to take a closer look at their approaches with NPR reporters on both sides of the Pacific.

0:53We'll hear from Anthony Kuhn in China in a moment. We start with Julia Simon in Eureka, California. In far northern California, Chris Mickelson drives an old police cruiser past little wooden houses. Pine trees with moss just like hanging off of them. It's just an old seaside town. Mickelson is the executive director of the Humboldt Bay Harbor District, which plans to assemble wind turbines for a massive new offshore wind project. About 20 miles off this misty coast, Two companies, American Vineyard Offshore and German RWE, plan to build turbines to power more than 2 million homes. Mickelson says the project aims to make about 270 long-term local jobs.

1:42It's going to change the economic viability of our community. And my voice gets a little shaky because it's going to make a better opportunity for our kids. Yeah. That's pretty important. The new terminal was supposed to be shovel-ready as soon as 2026, Mickelson says. That's no longer realistic, in part because the Trump administration recently canceled more than$426 million in federal grants for the project. Mickelson says it's been pencils down since then as they try to find new sources of money. This is one of dozens of actions this administration has taken to starve the renewable energy industry of federal support, from canceling tax credits years early to issuing stop work orders.

2:28Amanda Levin at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council says the U.S. renewable industry had been growing. For the first time last year, wind and solar produced more electricity than coal. Things were headed in the right direction, but this really just takes the wind out of their sails. The Trump administration is reversing support for renewables, which it incorrectly labels as risky and unreliable. But across the Pacific Ocean, America's biggest competitor, China, thinks otherwise. Let's throw the mic 5 ,000 miles to NPR's Anthony Kuhn, who's there. You are right, Julia. Here in China, renewable isn't a dirty word.

3:11China's leadership has made strategic choices to include renewables in its energy mix. We're in China's Zhangbei region, which is in between the capital Beijing and the edge of the Mongolian Plateau. The area is rich in wind resources, and it's where a lot of China's wind and solar capacity is being installed. Turbine blades swoosh past in huge circles. The electricity goes from here to a grid outside Beijing and on to the rest of China. China now dominates the global renewable sector. In the first half of this year, China built more solar than the rest of the world combined. 74 % of all large-scale wind and solar projects are being built in China.

3:53Compare that to the U.S. that's building 6%. China now has more installed generation capacity from solar and wind than from gas and coal. It wasn't always this way. Until recently, China's economic growth came at the cost of air pollution from burning fossil fuels. But in the last few decades, authorities in Beijing began to consider a sustainable economic growth model, and renewables have been a key part of that, according to Qin Haiyan, director of the parent company of the wind farm we visited, and vice president of the World Wind Energy Association.

4:29Developing the economy and reducing carbon emissions to address climate change are now no longer contradictory. And this, according to the Asia Society's Li Shuo, is the biggest difference between the U.S. and China in climate policy today. It couldn't be a stronger contrast between the two countries. In China, solar and wind are now cheaper than coal and gas. Li Shuo says one of the most dramatic aspects of China's climate story is not just that they seem to be cutting their climate emissions. But also, to what extent other parts of the world can also benefit from China's low-carbon products.

5:07So China is now exporting turbines and solar panels and batteries around the world, from Brazil to Nigeria to Pakistan. That's right, Julia. All the renewables' growth, both local and exports, is a bright spot amid China's slowing economy, especially its slumping real estate sector. David Fishman is a principal at the Lantau Group in Shanghai. People who used to be swinging hammers building commercial real estate are now swinging hammers installing solar panels. And that, well, yes, of course you'd double, triple down on that. Back in Eureka, Mickelson walks along a creaky dock, an abandoned pulp mill looming behind us.

5:48He says he doesn't understand why the Trump administration would cancel the grants for the terminal supporting the wind project. He says this community has been suffering since 2008 when the pulp mill closed. Our administration that was recently elected, not only at the presidential level, but even some of our Congress and senators, really ran on a platform that we're going to build back America, that we're going to create jobs in rural America, good, skilled, trained, you know, high-paying jobs. And there's no better place. You're looking around, you're seeing the remnants of what once was. It is still unclear what the nationwide cuts to renewable energy mean for U.S.

6:29climate emissions. But in China, the climate story is more clear, and it's a rare, encouraging indicator in the global warming story. The growth of renewable energy means that China's emissions seem to be on track to peak or are nearing their peak, Li Shuo says. And China's renewable exports mean the country is helping other countries reduce their emissions, too. Jeremy Wallace, professor at Johns Hopkins University, says now, at the end of the day... What America does is part of a story, and it is not the main part of the story. It's a cute side character. China, he says, is now the main character in the story of fighting climate change.

7:05Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Zhangbei County, Hebei Province, China. Julia Simon, NPR News, Eureka, California. And I'm going to give our standard disclosure here. We heard from the Natural Resources Defense Council on that story. They are one of NPR's financial supporters.

7:27That's the State of the World from NPR. Thank you for listening.