I am not saying that China is paying off any American politicians to promote climate change, but after reading the article I am about to summarize, I wonder.
On Sunday, Doug Ross posted an article on Substack titled, “Infographic: How the West’s Climate Crusade Built China’s Empire.” Please follow the link to read the entire article. I will summarize some of it here.
The article reports:
While Western nations debated carbon targets and paid citizens not to use energy, China executed a dual strategy: scaling renewable manufacturing to meet Western demand while building coal-fired baseload power to fuel that very production. Today, China controls 29% of global manufacturing output (up from 6% in 2000), produces over 80% of the world’s solar panels and 70% of its batteries, and has constructed more coal capacity in two decades than the entire Western world possesses.
…The West created unprecedented demand for green technology through subsidies, mandates, and moral urgency—then watched as China captured the entire supply chain to meet that demand. Today, China produces over 80% of the world’s solar panels, controls 97% of solar wafer production, manufactures 75% of all lithium-ion batteries, and builds 70% of wind turbine components. In 2024 alone, China installed 356 GW of wind and solar capacity—4.5 times what the entire European Union added and roughly equivalent to America’s total installed base. The International Energy Agency confirms China’s dominance across all stages of solar manufacturing “exceeds 80%.”
Western nations subsidized consumer adoption of green technology while China captured producer economics. The result: massive wealth transfer from Western consumers and taxpayers to Chinese manufacturers, with global competitors now described as facing an “unassailable” disadvantage.
The article concludes:
The data tells an uncomfortable story: the West’s climate policies, whatever their intentions, triggered the largest voluntary transfer of industrial capacity in human history. China didn’t conquer Western manufacturing—the West dismantled it through higher energy costs, regulatory complexity, and ideological rigidity, while China offered a cheap alternative.
With 29% of global manufacturing, 80%+ of solar production, 75% of battery capacity, and a coal fleet larger than the entire Western world’s, China has converted the energy transition into a strategic windfall. The path forward requires honest assessment: if carbon dioxide is a “pollutant”, the West cannot depend on supply chains controlled by nations still expanding coal power. Until Western policymakers reconcile climate ambition with industrial reality, the transfer will continue—one shuttered factory at a time.
Where were our representatives who were supposed to be looking out for us?
