How China, not the U.S., became the main climate solution story in 2025

"Twenty miles off the misty northern coast of California, off of Humboldt Bay, there's a plan to build offshore wind turbines to power more than two million American homes. The marine terminal that will assemble the turbines was supposed to be shovel-ready as soon as 2026, says Chris Mikkelsen, executive director of the Humboldt Bay Harbor District. That's no longer realistic, he says, in part because the Trump administration recently canceled more than $426 million in federal grants for the port."

"The Trump administration is reversing federal support for renewable energy, which it labels as risky and unreliable. But across the Pacific ocean, America's biggest competitor, China, is heading in the opposite direction, says Li Shuo, director of China Climate Hub at the Asia Society. China now dominates the global renewables sector. In the first half of this year, China built more solar than the rest of the world combined."

Twenty miles off Humboldt Bay, a planned offshore wind project intended to power over two million homes has stalled after the Trump administration canceled more than $426 million in federal grants, delaying a marine assembly terminal that aimed to be shovel-ready by 2026. U.S. renewable investment fell 36% in the first half of 2025. China built more solar in the first half of the year than the rest of the world combined and accounts for 74% of large-scale solar and wind under construction. Wind, solar and batteries contributed over a quarter of China’s 2024 economic growth.

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