While the US congress was battling over light bulb efficiencies (that much of the rest of the world has already adopted), China was busy adding more solar energy, more green jobs. Many of the technologies may be invented and developed in the US, but China is turning that into companies, jobs and power.
China Aims To Renew Status As Scientific Superpower
http://www.npr.org/...
China currently has a "brain gain" - where more promising scientists are choosing China over the US. Could part of the reason be anti-scientific politics, like Republicans in general and Sen. Inhofe in particular? Teaching against evolution and climate change certainly do not help.
Can US economy thrive as China rises?
The US economy retains top status, but Beijing's economic engine is shrewdly built – and set to propel China forward fast.
Continued US prosperity depends on figuring out how to stay ahead of other nations that are out to eat America's lunch.
http://www.csmonitor.com/...
That, as they say, is the trillion dollar question. As the US economy languishes in a "jobless non-recovery" China is cruising ahead. As the US wastes resources in non-productive wars China is investing in infrastructure.
China to double solar-power capacity by 2015
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/...
China's lead in energy is not just in photovoltaics:
China ranks 2 as clean tech producer, US is No 17
The Chinese have made a conscious decision to capture this market and to develop this market aggressively," said Donald Pols, an economist with the WWF.
"When you speak to the Chinese, climate change is not an ideological issue. It's just a fact of life. While we debate climate change and the transition to a low carbon economy, the debate is passed in China," Pols said. "For them it's implementation. It's a growth sector, and they want to capture this sector."
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/...
China ahead of USA in race to provide millions of renewable energy jobs
But America needs a more coordinated approach if it’s to compete with China in clean-energy manufacturing and exports. A study published by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center found that, unlike industrialised countries, China and most other major emerging economies coordinate and support energy R&D through government-owned enterprises. The study covered Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa. By some estimates, investments in renewable-energy assets may total $2.3 trillion by 2020, yielding increased jobs and exports as well as reduced greenhouse gas emissions, for countries that harness green technology.
http://nuclear-news.net/...
U.S. vs. China Currency War…Why We Will Eventually Lose
The U.S. is the winner today in the fight against the Chinese over currency valuation, but, as I say above, it will be the loser in the long term, as those short-term interest rates that are artificially low, huge deficits, and overtime money printing come back to haunt us in the form of a devalued currency and the rapid inflation that the Chinese are complaining about.
http://wallstreetpit.com/...
The US has the lead, in innovation, for now. But the lead we have is largely leftover from prior decades. Research funding is down and science in the US is producing fewer and fewer real innovations.
Science is now entwined with divisive national politics and the whole country will suffer because of this.
China vs. USA: Who will win the 21st Century?
Like the U.S., China also struggles with the issue of energy. China is a consumer, not a producer of energy.
But they are quickly getting very smart on the energy front. They are becoming the global leaders of clean tech - whether it is solar or wind.
They are also aggressively trying to move up the value chain. They are laying the foundations to compete in the 21st Century. They are building a great university system and they are working to get research labs in place.
In America’s case, we have all the ingredients to succeed in the 21st Century. We have the most innovative companies in the world such as Facebook, Apple and Google. We have the best universities in the world. We have a nexus between universities and research-oriented companies. We have the most dynamic capital markets in the world. We have an incredibly flexible, diverse society, which is also very much a part of our inherent societal innovation and dynamism.
But what we don’t have is a political system that can harness all of this and execute.
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/...
The last sentence says a lot - what the US does not have is "a political system that can harness all of this and execute." Shame on us.