"China remains the factory of the world. For all these parts that will be critical in batteries and solar, China controls almost all of the anodes, the cathodes for batteries. It controls almost all of the lithium processing. It builds almost all the wafers that are used in solar panels.
China will remain a dominant supplier to the US and everywhere else in many essential areas. It's really impossible to cut it out. And at some point, I think the Biden administration will have to come to an answer about whether they prioritise the cutting of emissions and doing all this cheaply, which probably means more supplies from countries like China, or whether it really is about re-industrialisation, and the climate targets can be delayed."
Derek Brower
Financial Times
"American producers of solar panels are more expensive than their overseas competitors. That, along with a bunch of supply-chain issues, means that US buyers of solar power are paying more money than their competitors overseas. That's, over the long term, not good for the green transition because it makes a very promising technology more expensive."
Professor David G. Victor
School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego
"I think the European relied on cheap fossil fuels or at least lower-priced fossil fuels from Russia. They regretted that at the end of the day after Russia violated international law and invaded Ukraine. This idea that cheapest is always best opens you up to economic security problems.
China is now the largest emitter in the world, almost double the size of the United States. The United States remains the world's historic largest emitter. We both have to do more. Competition can be healthy in this sector too. It can drive down costs. It can lead to innovation."
John Podesta
Head of Clean-Energy Provisions
Inflation Reduction Act
Our view
The Inflation Reduction Act is the largest investment in clean energy we have ever witnessed including $370bn worth of
tax credits, loans, and grants to incentivise
domestic manufacturing. With this scale, it hopes to rapidly accelerate our pathway to net zero. The huge sweeping legislation is designed to decarbonise the US economy, to bring back the US supply chains. It an ambitious plan to break our dependence on China and to create long-term viable industries which are more competitive than the Chinese. Will this work? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, the Inflation Reduction Act has changed the world.
This is a 9-part Series. The next part will be on 'What the Inflation Reduction Act means to the global south'.
For the full video from Financial Times REPORT.
Here's our other post of the Inflation Reduction Act.