Letters to the Editor: Modern renewable energy was born in the U.S., yet we’re falling beh
February 4, 2026
Tibetan sheep graze at a solar farm in Hainan prefecture of western China’s Qinghai province in July 2025.
(Ng Han Guan / Associated Press)
- The U.S. invented modern renewable energy technology at Bell Labs, yet China and Australia now lead in solar, wind and electric vehicle deployment.
- China’s aggressive clean energy push features innovations like BYD’s custom shipping fleet for EVs, while Australia’s renewable capacity already exceeds demand.
- Most Americans are unaware of the rapid renewable energy revolution reshaping transportation and power generation globally, and what it means for the U.S.
To the editor: The solar, wind and electric vehicle deployment numbers coming out of China blow my mind (“Global green tech investments hit record $2.3 trillion despite political headwinds,” Feb. 2). BYD went so far as to build its own shipping fleet where the cars roll on and off the ships, just to get around logistical hiccups. The spillover benefit of all of this progress to neighboring countries is enviable.
Australia, a leader in mining and fossils, added so much renewable energy that it outpaced demand. I’m sure Australian lawmakers will figure it out, because with a fraction of the population of America, they can’t afford to cannibalize any of their economic or human resources. They’re forced to care about their citizens; affordability is political survival.
All the while, U.S. citizens have no idea what energy and transportation could potentially look like here, what they will look like in Canada and the U.K., and what they do look like in China today. Modern renewable energy was born here at Bell Labs, along with so much other tech that will end up electrifying the world before us.
Pam Brennan, Newport Beach
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