An economist who won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has said China will dominate the energy sphere if U.S. President Donald Trump does not invest in renewable energy.

Writing on a Substack blog, Paul Krugman, who won the award in 2008 for his work analyzing trade patterns and economic activity, said that the world would be “dominated by solar and wind power” in the future and that “China will dominate that energy future” because the U.S. has not made the same investments.

Newsweek reached out to the White House by email to comment on this story outside of normal business hours.

The two powers are taking very different stances on energy. In October, China constructed a solar farm complex on the Tibetan Plateau which is seven times the size of Manhattan, as part of its transition to renewable power. It spent $625 billion on green technology in 2024 and has cut down on the use of fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., Trump’s administration has slashed support for clean energy, including the recent cancellation of what would have been the nation’s largest planned solar project in Nevada. He campaigned on expanding fossil fuels for American energy and paused federal wind permits while ending tax credits that had supported renewable developments in the country.

Writing in his blog, Krugman has said changes in how countries source their energy will “change the balance of world power.”

He said falling costs for renewable energy combined with increasing demand for electricity meant that it is “inevitable” that “the world’s energy future will be dominated by solar and wind power” and when that happens, China will be dominant.

“Under Donald Trump, America has taken itself out of the game, and even if sanity eventually returns to U.S. energy policy (and U.S. politics in general), by then we will almost surely be too far behind to catch up,” he wrote.

He added that “we live in a world of geopolitical competition among great powers” and if one “has an effective monopoly on producing crucial goods,” it “will matter a lot.”

“It would be foolish to ignore the implications of its likely dominance of renewable energy,” he wrote.

Krugman has previously criticized Trump, and has argued that he is handling the economy poorly.

However, Trump still commands the support of his base who believe his energy policies will boost the economy.

President Donald Trump, referencing renewable power, posted on Truth Social in August: “We will not approve wind or farmer-destroying Solar,” calling renewables “the scam of the century.”

Guo Jiakun, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said at a June news conference: “This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement. China is always a staunch doer and important contributor to global green development. Working toward peaking carbon dioxide emissions and achieving carbon neutrality is our solemn commitment to the international community.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping has set a target for the country to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.