To the Editor,
“There has never been a more intimate connection between the amount of cheap, clean electricity a nation can generate for A.I. models and its future economic and military might.” (NY Times’ Tom Friedman in his July 3, 2025, opinion, “How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again”)
Nations’ economic future and military might. It is what China is rapidly investing in. Vast amounts of clean, renewable energy. Many of us don’t understand that A.I., whatever our thoughts or understanding of it, will determine much of our global strength in the world, whether economically or militarily. And unfortunately, A.I. requires enormous energy resources. Republicans, unwilling to support clean energy because it is a “liberal” energy source, have just committed suicide. While the Chinese will have solar, solar, solar, and power, power, power, we will have coal to shovel, shovel, shovel, and oil to burn, burn, burn. It’s as if it’s 1850 in America and the 22nd century in China. What is wrong with us?
Joel Lidstrom
Caledonia, Minn.
Joe Freet says
A more nuanced understanding of current China and United States electricity production:
As of 2024, both China and the United States continue to rely heavily on fossil fuels for electricity generation, though each is showing gradual movement toward cleaner sources. China derives 61.9% of its electricity from fossil fuels, a modest decrease from 65.1% in 2022, with coal still dominating at 58.18%. However, China is rapidly expanding its renewable capacity, particularly in solar energy, which has grown from 4.83% in 2022 to 8.28% in 2024, and wind, which rose from 8.62% to 9.84%. Overall, low-carbon sources now account for 38.06% of China’s electricity, up from 34.9%. China’s carbon intensity—measuring the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of electricity generated—was 0.25 kg/kWh in 2023, slightly improved from 0.26 kg/kWh in 2021. This relatively high value reflects China’s ongoing dependence on coal.
In contrast, the U.S. has seen a more significant shift away from coal, dropping from 19.4% in 2022 to 14.88% in 2024, while natural gas has increased from 39.35% to 42.51%. Renewables in the U.S. have steadily grown as well, with solar rising from 4.78% to 6.91%. Low-carbon sources now provide 41.92% of U.S. electricity, up from 40.35%. The U.S. maintains a lower and stable carbon intensity of 0.19 kg/kWh since 2021, indicating a cleaner power generation profile.
Carbon intensity is a key metric in assessing how “clean” a country’s electricity is—lower values mean less CO₂ is released per kilowatt-hour produced, which is crucial for reducing the environmental impact of energy use. These trends show that while both nations are reducing emissions and expanding renewables, the U.S. currently generates electricity with significantly lower carbon emissions per unit than China.
Retrieved from Our World in Data https://ourworldindata.org on 7/24/2025
Joe Freet
Spring Valley, MN