What is the reason why the Obama administration is committed to the clean energy economy?

Recently, U.S. President Barack Obama submitted to Congress the 2013 fiscal year government budget totaling 3.8 trillion U.S. dollars. According to the budget, the U.S. government plans to allocate 6.3 billion U.S. dollars to the Ministry of Energy. This initiative has caused concern of all parties and has caused almost universal debate. There are also great differences in views between different parties.

Environmentalists, union unions, many state legislators, and parliamentarians believe that investing in the clean energy industry can create jobs. Free-market supporters and conservative Republicans believe that investing in green energy is purely a waste of money. It is just a "political show." Their reason is that the Solyndra company bankrupted all over the city in September and October last year. The US Department of Energy approved Solyndra’s $535 million conditional guarantee, and the company had received $527 million before it declared bankruptcy. Solyndra’s bankruptcy pushed the US Department of Energy and President Obama to the cusp.

However, what is the real economic data? Does the U.S. government's tax incentives and stimulus policies for the clean energy industry create jobs for economic development? The answer seems to be yes. However, it is still too early to accurately regulate the size, scope and benefits of the clean energy economy in the United States.

How large is the clean energy economy in the United States?

According to the Pew report in 2009, in the US, 50 states had nearly 68,200 clean energy economic projects and employed 77,000 staff. The report analyzes the growth of the clean energy economy in the United States from 1997 to 2007. The agency will update the latest study this summer.

According to a July 2011 report by Brookings, the United States currently has over 41,100 commercial projects in the clean energy economy and employs a total of 2.7 million workers. The number of fossil fuel workers is 2.4 million, which is lower than the clean energy industry.

What is the relationship between the clean energy economy and the economic recession?

In 2008, the United States presidential election competition was fierce. The clean energy economy has often become the topic of election for the two competing parties. Republican candidate McCain said in a campaign speech: "We should develop green technology, which can create millions of jobs for us."

As the global economy continues to slump, many Americans are unemployed. The clean energy economy has become more deeply rooted.

As the President of the United States who took office during the financial crisis, Obama chose to develop new energy as the main policy and means to turn "danger" into "an opportunity" and revitalize the U.S. economy. The short-term goal of its energy policy is to promote employment and stimulate economic recovery. The long-term goal is to get rid of the United States’ dependence on foreign oil, occupy the commanding heights in the new energy field, and continue to make the United States the world leader in economic development.

On February 15, 2009, the "US Recovery and Reinvestment Act" with a total value of 787 billion U.S. dollars was signed and entered into force by U.S. President Barack Obama. Among them, new energy is one of the main areas of focus, including the development of high-efficiency batteries, smart grids, carbon storage and carbon Capture, renewable energy such as wind energy, solar energy, etc.

The following year, 2010 Pew released a report that for the first time quantified the U.S. clean energy economy. President Obama mentioned the clean energy economy in his 2010 State of the Union address. He said: "A country headed by a clean energy economy will become the country headed by the global economy."

The federal government’s support for the clean energy economy has reached a crossroads The federal government’s stimulus plans to develop clean technology as a commercial scale are gradually disappearing. We are familiar with the 1603 fiscal plan (the 1603 fiscal plan is the US Department of the Treasury's cash subsidy incentive policy for renewable energy development such as photovoltaics that was initiated in 2009 to encourage investors to support renewable energy projects such as photovoltaics.) It has already expired. Other high-profile policies, such as the reduction of wind energy production taxes, will also face expiry this year.

The U.S. government has not yet set a national-level clean energy standard that meets the requirements for low-carbon production and can stimulate the market demand for rooftop solar and wind power plants.

As Pew's analyst, Cutino said, “A lot of the public policies currently being implemented are facing an expiry date. Many public policies that we have not implemented are actually what we desperately need.”

Who exactly is opposed to the clean energy economy? What are the reasons?

Republicans have made it clear in the Congress that they are opposed to using taxpayer money to support the development of clean energy projects. They are supported by the fossil fuel industry and the liberal think tank.

The Heritage Foundation, the main policy research agency of the new right-wingers in the United States, representing the interests of the ultra-conservative forces of the Southwest Consortium, told InsideClimate News that if the clean energy economy thrives in the free market, we can support it. development of. Nick Loris, an analyst at the Heritage Association, said: “The government’s strong support for the development of the clean energy industry is currently not desirable. It is simply shifting the manpower and capital of one sector to another. Low-carbon economy is not desirable, but the conditions It comes from the natural needs of the free market. I just don't agree that it can be produced as quickly as politicians think."

What is the current state of the clean energy economy?

Experts agreed that all states are currently working to build a clean energy economy.

According to the report of the National Governors Association, more than two-thirds of the states in the United States have established a combination of renewable or clean energy standards, and each state has at least one clean economic policy. Ten states have participated in the State-Owned Clean Car Initiative in California, which requires them to put thousands of electric vehicles and other zero-emission vehicles on the streets.

However, according to the Brooking report, many state and city clean economic actions have focused on management, water purification, and public transport rather than clean energy. In 2010, about 75,000 employees worked in these departments. According to the Pew report, in 2007, nearly half a million jobs (about 65% of jobs in this area) came from water conservation, reuse, and mitigation air pollution departments.

Clean Energy Economy and "China Card": Is It Really Worrying?

In 2010, China's PV module production accounted for half of global production, which is a huge leap compared to 2008. However, the output of photovoltaic modules in the United States is less than 10% of the global share. In 2009, China has become the world's largest manufacturer of wind turbine generators and is currently top of the list.

The Chinese government has spent huge amounts of money to develop the domestic clean energy market. In 2010, the Chinese government gave solar energy an industry with up to US$33 billion in subsidies, and the Obama administration has given US$50 billion in subsidies for the entire renewable energy industry over the past four years. The gap is obvious.

From the perspective of market demand, China is struggling to catch up. According to the Asia Pacific Major Solar Market Quarterly report released by NPDSolarbuzz, the Asia-Pacific region’s solar energy market is expected to grow by 39% in the fourth quarter, with an annual increase of 130%, and the installed capacity will exceed 2GW in the quarter, which will significantly increase the Asia-Pacific region this year. The proportion of global installations.

As Asian governments in various countries successively propose new annual installation targets, for example, the China Energy Administration will increase its cumulative solar installation target in 2015 from the original 10 GW to 15 GW, and it is expected that the Asia Pacific region will increase by 45% in 2012. In the fourth quarter of 2011, China will account for 45% of market demand in the Asia-Pacific region, exceeding the market size of the United States and Japan.

In 2011, wind power installed capacity in China accounted for 44% of the total global installation, the highest in the world. At present, China is the world's leading manufacturer of wind turbines, with a total installed capacity of 63,000 MG. Last year, the United States accounted for 17% of the world's share of wind power installations, about 47,000 MG, ranking second in the world.

At present, both countries continue to work hard to attract hundreds of millions of investment funds. According to data from Bloomberg's New Energy Finance Ministry, in 2009 and 10 years, after the United States resided in China on the amount of renewable energy investment, the United States had been leading until 2009. Last year, due to the impact of the expiry of some federal **, the U.S. government has invested US$56 billion in renewable energy, an increase of 30% compared to 2010. China ranks second.