4 ms·

Isn't US a massive producer of renewables?

adventured 1y ago
Yes, this thead is filled with propaganda. The US is by a dramatic margin the world's #2 producer of solar. The US is by a very dramatic margin the world's #2 producer of wind. None of which takes anything away from China's remarkable production. In solar the US = #3 + #4 + #5 combined. In wind the US = #3 + #4 + #5 + #6 combined.
- danny_codes 1y ago
  Presumably commenters are talking about the fact that the current US administration has taken an anti-renewables position and cut funding for renewable energy projects. With a hostile federal policy, it somewhat calls into question whether the US can sustain it's progress in renewable deployment. Personally though I think we will continue to make progress, just slower than before.
  - parineum 1y ago
    Where renewables make economic sense, government policy and political ideology don't matter. Texas has been installing a ton of renewables. The influence of the government is vastly overstated/overassumed.
    - rsynnott 1y ago
      I mean, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/10/trump-officials-drop-major-solar-power-project-in-another-renewable-energy-attack https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/10/trump-offici...
      - parineum 1y ago
        That's one project. It's a big project but I bet that the private installations that will happen in the period it would have taken to build that will be significantly more megawatts. I'm not saying that Trump isn't cancelling things, I'm saying that the projects he can cancel aren't a significant portion of the market. Renewables don't really need government help anymore. Storage does though.
  - pyuser583 1y ago
    The American economy isn't (yet) dictated by federal policy. The current president wants to change that, but his conservative supporters do not.
- epistasis 1y ago
  It's a growing industry around the world but Trump is trying to reverse that. The only "propaganda" is your own. Just two days ago, what would be rhe US's largest solar project, the 6.2 GW Esmeralda, was listed as cancelled by the BLM: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environment/3845514/trump-administration-cancels-nevada-solar-project/ https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environ... After many months of delay because Trump said he was going to be really hard on the permit review, it was apparently cancelled for no reason. Previously, Trump tried to retroactively revoke permits on offshore wind projects that were mid construction, with billions spent. Even if he didn't win in court, the scheduling of ships for this is so delicate that a delay of months could scuttle the build for years as ships move on to other engagements, basically ending any profitability. This is having a huge chilling effect on our renewables buildout as the magus shakedowns are capricious and massive increase investment risk. Even if there is growing investment in renewables in the US, it will be a shadow of what it would be otherwise. And with gas turbines on many year back order, Trump is locking in higher electricity prices fire to shortages because he's trying to block one of the only fast ways to bring new generation into the grid.
  - pyuser583 1y ago
    I had to think for a long time about why Black Lives Matters was cancelling a solar project.
- oldpersonintx2 1y ago
  [dead]
- rsynnott 1y ago
  [flagged]

Yes, this thead is filled with propaganda. The US is by a dramatic margin the world's #2 producer of solar. The US is by a very dramatic margin the world's #2 producer of wind. None of which takes anything away from China's remarkable production. In solar the US = #3 + #4 + #5 combined. In wind the US = #3 + #4 + #5 + #6 combined.

danny_codes 1y ago
Presumably commenters are talking about the fact that the current US administration has taken an anti-renewables position and cut funding for renewable energy projects. With a hostile federal policy, it somewhat calls into question whether the US can sustain it's progress in renewable deployment. Personally though I think we will continue to make progress, just slower than before.
- parineum 1y ago
  Where renewables make economic sense, government policy and political ideology don't matter. Texas has been installing a ton of renewables. The influence of the government is vastly overstated/overassumed.
  - rsynnott 1y ago
    I mean, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/10/trump-officials-drop-major-solar-power-project-in-another-renewable-energy-attack https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/10/trump-offici...
    - parineum 1y ago
      That's one project. It's a big project but I bet that the private installations that will happen in the period it would have taken to build that will be significantly more megawatts. I'm not saying that Trump isn't cancelling things, I'm saying that the projects he can cancel aren't a significant portion of the market. Renewables don't really need government help anymore. Storage does though.
- pyuser583 1y ago
  The American economy isn't (yet) dictated by federal policy. The current president wants to change that, but his conservative supporters do not.
epistasis 1y ago
It's a growing industry around the world but Trump is trying to reverse that. The only "propaganda" is your own. Just two days ago, what would be rhe US's largest solar project, the 6.2 GW Esmeralda, was listed as cancelled by the BLM: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environment/3845514/trump-administration-cancels-nevada-solar-project/ https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-and-environ... After many months of delay because Trump said he was going to be really hard on the permit review, it was apparently cancelled for no reason. Previously, Trump tried to retroactively revoke permits on offshore wind projects that were mid construction, with billions spent. Even if he didn't win in court, the scheduling of ships for this is so delicate that a delay of months could scuttle the build for years as ships move on to other engagements, basically ending any profitability. This is having a huge chilling effect on our renewables buildout as the magus shakedowns are capricious and massive increase investment risk. Even if there is growing investment in renewables in the US, it will be a shadow of what it would be otherwise. And with gas turbines on many year back order, Trump is locking in higher electricity prices fire to shortages because he's trying to block one of the only fast ways to bring new generation into the grid.
- pyuser583 1y ago
  I had to think for a long time about why Black Lives Matters was cancelling a solar project.
oldpersonintx2 1y ago
[dead]
rsynnott 1y ago
[flagged]