Currently, the U.S. ranks behind Germany, Japan and China in terms of solar capacity.
In October '09, renewable energy executives met at a forum with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy Director Carol Browner.
Secretary Chu warned that if Congress does not pass climate change and energy reform legislation soon, the U.S. will likely be surpassed by China as a global leader in the production of wind turbines, solar panels, solid state lighting and other clean energy technologies.
According to the DOE, China invests approximately $12.6 million in clean energy every hour, and the nation is ratcheting up to generate 100 gigawatts from wind turbines by 2030.
In essence, if the U.S. lapses in building a competitive clean energy infrastructure, including complete supply chains for related technology, while signing onto a new United Nations (U.N.) greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reductions treaty, which will require significant reductions in fossil fuel energy usage, it may simply be exchanging foreign oil imports for Chinese or other country's green energy imports.
According to an article in Phoenix Green Business Examiner, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the original related House bill entitled the American Clean Energy and Security Act would only increase energy costs for the average household by the price of a postage stamp, 44 cents, each day. The White House has welcomed the corporate involvement and its financial backing for this capstone climate change legislation, which is one of the major prongs of Obama's overall agenda, including the green energy stimulus, as it will face a heated battle with Congressmen and lobbyists associated with the oil and coal industry in the coming months.