, Columnist
China's Energy Weapon Comes in One Color: Green
Investing in renewables helps blunt U.S. influence.
A Chinese worker from Wuhan Guangsheng Photovoltaic Company works on a solar panel project on the roof of a 47 story building in a new development on May 15, 2017 in Wuhan, China.
Photographer: Kevin FrayerThis article is for subscribers only.
The phrase "energy weapon" tends to conjure up grainy images of Americans sporting bad hair and disco fashions waiting in line for gasoline. Might the 21st-century version involve solar panels and electric cars instead?
Amy Myers Jaffe, a director at the Council on Foreign Relations, argues along these lines in a recent essay for Foreign Affairs. China, having little to show for a $160 billion splurge of acquisitions, loans and investments aimed partly at securing foreign supplies of fossil fuels, is pivoting instead toward a greener form of energy geopolitics.