China's Power Boom Means West May Swap Oil Dependency for Green Tech Dependency
President Obama made it clear in his State of the Union Address last week that he fears the American economy is on the brink of missing out on a green tech boom that could propel us out of our current financial mess and into the coming century, and it appears his concern is well-placed. China leapfrogged Denmark, Germany, Spain and the U.S. to become the world's largest maker of wind turbines last year, and 2010 is shaping up to be another banner year. For China that is, not for the West. In the past two years, the Chinese have also powered past Western competitors to become the largest solar panel manufacturer in the world, leaving some analysts and economists to wonder if the West might shake off its dependency on Middle Eastern oil only to find itself at the mercy of China's green tech dominance. Renewable energy industries are piling on...