Total investment in clean technology will total $509 billion in those countries in the next five years, the Breakthrough Institute and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation say, while the United States will invest a paltry $172 billion. In addition to Asian investments' greater size, says the report, "the direct and coordinated nature of these Asian nations' public investments will confer significant advantages."
The report adds that the climate bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this year is too weak to spur significant green energy investment. A cap-and-trade bill would slow American companies' uptake of clean tech until 2020, it suggests, because firms would be able to buy offsets for emissions.
The Solar Energy Industries Association notes that American solar production has plummeted in the last decade, from 40 percent of the world supply to 5 percent today.
Also, adds the report, the American strategy of developing green energy based on market demands is likely to be inferior to "the direct and targeted public investments of China, Japan and South Korea."
