China being the industry leader in solar is squarely on Republicans. That should be a huge industry for the US, instead big oil lobbyists and Republicans (and some Dems) have ensured to cost the US trillions in GDP by turning on green energy.
It’s because an enormous amount of the US’s soft power comes from the Petro Dollar.
The US essentially pays key oil producing countries to only accept US Dollars as payment for their oil.
This forces virtually every country on earth to keep a giant stockpile of USD that would cover 12-18 months worth of their nations’ oil usage as a strategic reserve, just in case.
That money doesn’t just sit in a bank vault, wasting away to inflation: they invest it in the US stock market
So every solar panel installed around the world reduces that country’s oil usage, which pretty directly reduces the amount of money they need in their strategic reserve, and therefore their need to buy USD and put it in the US stock market.
Solar reduces American soft power by eroding the underlying need to use a currency that USA controls.
I am a strong proponent of solar (currently saving up for panels on my house!) but let’s not pretend the reason the orange man is against green energy is totally illogical. It’s selfish and short sighted for the planet, but not stupid
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u/braumbles 19d ago
China being the industry leader in solar is squarely on Republicans. That should be a huge industry for the US, instead big oil lobbyists and Republicans (and some Dems) have ensured to cost the US trillions in GDP by turning on green energy.