China dominates the global solar manufacturing chain—but many of its largest manufacturers are losing money. Why? Because China built production capacity fas...

Let’s debunk this:

In my opinion, this video is a classic example of the disingenuous, nuance-free framing you’d expect from certain right-wing US commentary. It frames a monumental win for global renewable energy as a “failure” just because Chinese manufacturers are currently experiencing tight margins.

Let’s look at what this video conveniently leaves out:

  1. The True Cost of Innovation: The video acts like cheap solar is just the result of “overcapacity,” ignoring that solar used to be artificially expensive. The massive price drop we’ve seen (a nearly 90% reduction over the last decade) is driven by genuine technological improvements and economies of scale. China scaled up the tech that made sunlight cheap.

  2. The Impact of US Tariffs: The “overcapacity” narrative ignores the fact that the US has aggressively stalled exports with heavy tariffs (recently raising tariffs on Chinese solar cells to 50%). When you deliberately lock the world’s biggest supplier out of massive Western markets, of course there will be an oversupply and a hit to their profits. It’s a manufactured bottleneck, not a failure of the industry.

  3. The Subsidy Double Standard: Whenever China subsidises an industry, it’s framed as a nefarious market manipulation. Yet, when America does it, it’s “protecting domestic interests.” The US is currently pumping billions into its own green tech via the Inflation Reduction Act. Remember the bailout of General Motors? The US handed over billions of taxpayer dollars to a company that failed to invest properly in its own future, only for them to turn around and reward shareholders with dividends and stock buybacks. Where was the outrage over those subsidies?

  4. The Bigger Picture: The video is obsessed with corporate losses, missing the absolute most important point: cheap solar is a victory for humanity. Across Europe, and particularly in the UK, new legislation is being rolled out to rapidly expand solar infrastructure. Why? Because it means cheaper energy bills for everyday people and a fighting chance at preserving the longevity of our planet.

If the cost of securing a sustainable future and slashing energy bills is a temporary dip in profit margins for solar manufacturers, that isn’t a crisis. It’s progress.

  • sparkyshocks@lemmy.zip
    0·
    5 days ago

    Remember the bailout of General Motors? The US handed over billions of taxpayer dollars to a company that failed to invest properly in its own future, only for them to turn around and reward shareholders with dividends and stock buybacks. Where was the outrage over those subsidies?

    The GM bailout wiped out shareholders, who got nothing, and their shares went permanently to zero. They created a new company, primarily as a bailout of customers (new GM assumed the responsibilities relating to warranties, service plans, connectivity/subscriptions), a partial bailout of employees (new GM accepted the collective bargaining agreement with the unions, but closed plants under the terms of that agreement), and to some extent dealers and vendors (there were individual winners and losers in the bankruptcy as a whole). Then they auctioned off the shares of the new company, to at least bring back some money to the taxpayer (recovering about $39 billion out of the $51 billion they spent on the bailout).

    Economists talk about moral hazard, and the GM and AIG bailout are actually a good example of “yes we’ll save you but it’s gonna cost you almost as much as if we didn’t.”