China is crushing America's "Green Industry" (employees, consulting, interview)

[Guineas]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/bu...e&ref=business

Chinese solar panel makers now supply about 40 percent of the California market, the largest in the United States, and the bulk of the European market, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research and consulting firm.

“We grow every year with double revenue and almost double capacity,” said Fang Peng, the chief executive of JA Solar, in a telephone interview from the company’s Shanghai headquarters. “At end of the year, we will have 1.8 gigawatts of capacity and will have grown from 4,000 employees at the beginning of this year to more than 11,000.”

By comparison, Silicon Valley-based Solyndra expects to have a total production capacity of 300 megawatts by the end of 2011.

“The solar market has changed so much it’s almost enough to make you want to cry,” said Joseph Laia, chief executive of MiaSolé. The challenges come despite extensive public and private support for the Silicon Valley companies. Solyndra, one of the biggest firms, has raised more than $1 billion from investors. The federal government provided a $535 million loan guarantee for the company’s new robot-run, 300,000-square-foot solar panel factory, known as Fab 2.

“The true engine of economic growth will always be companies like Solyndra,” President Obama said in May during an appearance at the then-unfinished factory. But during the year that Solyndra’s plant was under construction, competition from the Chinese helped drive the price of solar modules down 40 percent.

-------------

So much for that engine of jobs and economic growth.

Let's recap: China's #4 solar maker employs 11,000 people and produces 1.8 gigawatts a year, while Obama's pet company Solyndra will optimistically produce 300 megawatts by the end of 2011. Solyndra's CIGS technology is actually less efficient at converting sunlight into electricity than the Chinese, but was promoted as being cheaper to manufacture, except now it's actually more expensive than China's more efficient technology. (!!!)

Keep bickering about gay marriage and legalizing marijuana, fellow Americans. Maybe we can trade Californian-grown pot for manufactured stuff from China.

[Svatos]

The extreme liberal and conservative fringes of this country are hurting us more than they are helping us.

[DennyCrane]

Keep in mind that there are foreign companies that are funding candidates here who will continue to suppress the development of green jobs, making us more and more dependent on foreign sources of energy. Until we reform our broken system of campaign finance, this sort of thing will only get worse. And thanks The Supreme Court, corporations can pour unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns. Just look at this list of donors to the Chamber of Commerce and count how many times you see a foreign country on there.

[Guineas]

Originally Posted by DennyCrane

Keep in mind that there are foreign companies that are funding candidates here who will continue to suppress the development of green jobs, making us more and more dependent on foreign sources of energy. Until we reform our broken system of campaign finance, this sort of thing will only get worse. And thanks The Supreme Court, corporations can pour unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns. Just look at this list of donors to the Chamber of Commerce and count how many times you see a foreign country on there.

That's such a red herring, the total amount of foreign money donated to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (a private organization) doesn't even add up to $600k.

A local union gives more money than that to help elect a city councilman.

[DennyCrane]

Originally Posted by Guineas

That's such a red herring, the total amount of foreign money donated to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (a private organization) doesn't even add up to $600k.

A local union gives more money than that to help elect a city councilman.

Then why do they need to hide it? If it's such a small amount, then they should be more than willing to disclose it. And we all know there are other ways to funnel the money into our system.

[RedJacket]

Originally Posted by Guineas

That's such a red herring, the total amount of foreign money donated to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (a private organization) doesn't even add up to $600k.

Just how much foreign money is A-okay with you?

The Chamber is supposed to be about helping local communities, not supporting legislation that sends jobs overseas and giving tax-breaks to companies who do just that.

And given their position in a community, they should remain non-partisan. Yet, they're so far to the right they need the Hubble Telescope to see the center.