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> Meanwhile China is adding power capacity at a wartime pace—coal, gas, nuclear, everything—while America struggles to get a single transmission line permitted.
by rayiner 11mo ago
> Meanwhile China is adding power capacity at a wartime pace—coal, gas, nuclear, everything—while America struggles to get a single transmission line permitted.
I have been saying for years that upgrading civilization requires more power output, not conservation and windmills. If we had been investing in nuclear since the 1960s we would be ready for the needs of next generation technologies and we could do it without burning fossil fuels.
- mattmaroon 11mo agoWe’re ready for them with current technology, the problem is regulatory.
- ceejayoz 11mo agoSome progress on that front: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/climate/trump-offshore-wind-federal-judge.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/climate/trump-offshore-wi... > A federal judge on Monday struck down President Trump’s halt on approvals of all wind power projects on federal lands and waters, dealing a significant legal setback to the administration’s campaign against wind farms.
- SideburnsOfDoom 11mo agoWho matches China's current scale and cost of producing solar panels? No-one is ready to compete.
- mattmaroon 11mo agoWe were talking about nuclear energy but… Nobody competes with China on lots of things because of government subsidies both direct and indirect (like devaluing currency). We could do those too if we had to.
- SideburnsOfDoom 11mo agoI agree that the problem is regulatory. But I don't think that it's easily waved away. Chinese solar and is a huge benefit to humankind, but also they have a commanding lead on it. And possibly in BEVs too.
- mattmaroon 11mo agoThey do, because the government decided to have a commanding lead on it and threw money at it. Which I wish we had done. Until 2020 we didn’t place much value on domestic manufacturing.