【Text by Observers Network, Liu Chenghui】

On July 3 local time, the long-anticipated "Big and Beautiful" tax and spending bill that President Trump had been eager for finally passed the House of Representatives, awaiting his signature into law on July 4, Independence Day.

However, many Americans' moods were not "beautiful."

"How will Trump's 'Big and Beautiful' bill make China great again?" On July 3, the New York Times published an opinion article by its renowned columnist and author of "The World Is Flat," Thomas Friedman, with this title.

Friedman openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the "Big and Beautiful" bill, calling it a serious disruption to America's energy strategy and future development. The bill cuts tax incentives for solar, wind, and electric vehicles, restricts companies with ties to China from receiving subsidies, and abolishes regulations limiting methane emissions, going against global trends and severely weakening America's power supply capacity in the era of artificial intelligence.

Friedman believes that in contrast, China is vigorously developing its power industry, including renewable energy, and Trump's bill will instead help China take the lead in the future in areas such as solar energy, wind energy, and electric vehicles.

August 15, 2024, Delingha molten salt tower solar thermal power station in Haixi Prefecture, Qinghai Province, shining under the sunlight. Visual China

"Trump's Bill Goes Against the Trend"

"Can you hear it? That's a loud roar from the East, the laughter of 1.4 billion Chinese people," Friedman sarcastically wrote at the beginning of the article. "The Chinese can't believe their luck: just as the electricity-hungry era of artificial intelligence is about to begin, the U.S. president and his party have made one of the most severe strategic self-harm actions imaginable."

Friedman said that although solar, wind, and battery technologies are the fastest and cheapest ways to enhance grid capacity, supporters of the bill have labeled these energy sources as "liberal."

This is completely opposite to what China is doing. Friedman joked: In fact, China could even consider setting July 4 as its own national holiday, "U.S. Power Dependence Day."

The article stated that this bill is incredible, especially considering that even Saudi Arabia is actively developing solar energy to meet the demand for artificial intelligence data centers that it hopes to attract from the West. Trump's "Big and Beautiful" bill, however, goes against the trend by gradually eliminating tax credits for solar, wind, and electric vehicles, which almost certainly means that China will dominate the future in solar, wind, electric vehicles, and even autonomous driving technology.

Additionally, as reported by the New York Times, the bill adds "complex restrictions" to battery credits, prohibiting funded parties from having ties to "restricted foreign entities" like China, leading some to worry that these restrictions may be so complex that many projects may not qualify for the credits.

Friedman complained repeatedly: In summary, this messy bill was passed without any congressional hearings or consultations with independent energy experts or scientists, and it is destined to put billions of dollars of renewable energy investments at risk and potentially cause thousands of American workers to lose their jobs. The bill also bans the first "methane over-emission fee" for the next 10 years, and methane is one of the key factors causing global warming.

"This bill will result in your home being hotter, higher air conditioning bills, fewer clean energy jobs, a weaker U.S. automotive industry, and a happier China. What makes sense? It makes no sense at all."

June 30, 2025, Shell refinery in Martinez, California, USA. Visual China

"A Moment When the U.S. Missed the Opportunity for Clean Energy Transition"

Friedman mentioned the firm opponents of the "Big and Beautiful" bill, American entrepreneur and former head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk. He believes that Musk is the person in the U.S. who understands the bill's drawbacks best.

During the bill's progress last month, Musk criticized it as "disgusting" multiple times, vowing to create a "U.S. Party" if the bill passed.

"It is very sad that Musk is undoubtedly one of the greatest manufacturing innovators in the U.S., founding globally leading companies that produce electric vehicles, solar energy rockets, battery storage equipment, and communication satellites... but his image has been damaged among many voters."

"That is why many people do not understand the crucial facts that Musk has been loudly warning the American people about: Trump's bill is completely crazy and destructive, providing subsidies to past industries while seriously harming future industries."

Friedman said that China clearly understands that whether a country can generate large-scale power at low cost and cleanly is closely related to its ability to develop AI engines. These AI engines, which learn and output answers, require massive electricity, and these answers may be the key to achieving cures for diseases, discovering new materials, and even developing cheap and clean fusion energy.

In other words, the amount of cheap and clean electricity a country can provide for AI models is closely related to its future economic and military strength. This is why people like Musk oppose the bill.

"From a broader perspective, this bill will further weaken our competitiveness in the energy sector," said Nick Nigro, founder of Atlas Public Policy. "Ten years from now, when we look back, we may find that this is the moment when the U.S. gave up and essentially missed the opportunity for the clean energy transition."

"Trump has handed over the future of U.S. power to China"

Friedman sighed: Few Americans realize how great China's advantages are in this field, and how fast it is pulling away every day.

He listed a set of data. In 2000, China's power generation just exceeded 1.3 trillion kilowatt-hours, while the U.S. generated nearly 3.8 trillion kilowatt-hours. Now, China's power generation exceeds 10 trillion kilowatt-hours; since 2000, the U.S. has only increased by 500 billion kilowatt-hours, meaning a 13% increase over 25 years.

The Financial Times recently wrote in an article, "China is on the road to becoming the world's first 'power nation,' with its energy increasingly relying on electricity and its economy driven more by clean technology. This gives China a strategic buffer to deal with trade decoupling with the U.S. and escalating geopolitical tensions."

As for Trump's boast of making the U.S. "energy dominant globally" during his term, it has become a dream due to the "Big and Beautiful" bill. Without renewable energy, the U.S. will not achieve energy dominance in the next five years.

Friedman said that Texas is currently developing well in terms of clean energy capacity, and according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 81% of the newly added power capacity in the U.S. in 2024 came from solar and energy storage batteries. Now, Trump's foolish bill will significantly cut this proportion.

Although U.S. Energy Secretary Ritter knows this, like other sycophants in Trump's cabinet, he seems to only say what Trump wants to hear.

Research company Energy Innovation predicts that Trump's measures to weaken the U.S. renewable energy industry will cause wholesale electricity prices to rise by about 50% by 2035; by 2030, U.S. consumers will see cumulative annual energy costs increase by over $16 billion. The company also predicts that by 2030, about 830,000 renewable energy jobs will be lost or never created.

At the end of the article, Friedman again sarcastically remarked: There must be only the U.S. Republican Party and China celebrating the bill, because nothing could make China greater than Trump's "Big and Beautiful" bill, which hands over the future of U.S. power to Beijing.

Dalian, Liaoning Province, Wangjia Island Wind Power Project. Visual China

"Knowing that China is accelerating, or being shocked by it"

Friedman's various reflections are not surprising.

According to the latest data released by the National Energy Administration, in the first five months of this year, China added 196 million kilowatts of new photovoltaic installations, an increase of 57% compared to the same period last year. Currently, the installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation has historically exceeded 100 million kilowatts, reaching 108 million kilowatts, equivalent to the total capacity of about 48 Three Gorges Dams.

Over 100 million kilowatts of photovoltaic capacity can generate 1.2 trillion kilowatt-hours of green clean electricity annually, accounting for 12% of China's annual total power generation. It can replace 152 million tons of standard coal and meet the annual household electricity needs of nearly 500 million families.

According to the "Global Offshore Wind Market Outlook" and "Global Wind Energy Report" released at the 2025 Offshore Wind Power Conference on June 20, China's wind power capacity has grown rapidly this year, with wind power generation accounting for over 12%. By 2030, global offshore wind power capacity is expected to exceed 230 gigawatts, with China's deep-sea projects becoming the core growth point of international cooperation.

Data shows that by April, the cumulative grid-connected capacity of wind power in China reached 15.5%. In the first four months of this year, China's wind power generation reached 381.43 billion kilowatt-hours, accounting for 12.78% of the total power generation.

The Guardian also noted that China now has over 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar power capacity, accounting for half of the global total. Especially this year, China's expansion of renewable energy has not slowed down. In the first five months alone, it added 19.8 gigawatts of solar and 4.6 gigawatts of wind power capacity, enough to generate power equivalent to the entire electricity consumption of Indonesia or Turkey. The capacity added in May alone is equivalent to the entire power generation of Poland.

"We always knew that China was accelerating the installation of wind and solar power, but we were still shocked by the speed," said Lauri Myllyvirta, senior researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Simon Evans, analyst at Carbon Brief, a British research institution, said in March that it is expected that China's clean energy investment will continue to grow in 2025. China has obvious advantages in the clean energy industry, is competitive globally, and will maintain a thriving situation. At the same time, under the goal of energy transition, developing clean energy technology industries is an inevitable choice for China. Furthermore, China is a solid force in combating climate change. In the future, clean energy technology will continue to support China's economic development.

This article is an exclusive contribution from Observers Network, and it is not allowed to be reprinted without permission.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7523089401435226678/

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