Here Comes the Sun: ESG and Dirty Solar Supply Chains

Here’s the bad news: the manufacturing of solar cells is an energy and labor-intensive process. That’s why 80% of the world’s solar panels are made in the coal-rich Xinjiang region of China, which is not only home to the world’s two biggest coal-fired power plants but also Ground Zero of the CCP’s genocide of the Uyghurs, who are used as slave labor.

The technological battleground of solar energy illustrates the consequences of the CCP’s “Power Doctrine.” China’s systematic deployment of IP theft, subsidies, non-market reciprocity, forced labor, low environmental standards, non-transparent accounting practices, bribery, as well as vast amounts of ESG capital has tilted the economies of scale in their favor, and ultimately decimated the American solar industry. History has taught us that energy security is national security. Wars are begun and lost because of energy. Unless drastic action is taken, we will find ourselves at China’s mercy for our energy needs, just as Germany is at Russia’s.

Learn more about the importance of energy transition to our economic and national security at the Tech Diplomacy Academy.