A current complaint echoes one made by Naomi Klein a decade back. Which is, as the kids say these days, problematic. For if you’re echoing a Naomi Klein economic argument you’re going to be somewhere between wrong and wildly wrong.

The amount of wind and solar power under construction in China is now nearly twice as much as the rest of the world combined, a report has found.

Research published on Thursday by Global Energy Monitor (GEM), an NGO, found that China has 180 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar power under construction and 15GW of wind power. That brings the total of wind and solar power under construction to 339GW, well ahead of the 40GW under construction in the US.

…

The findings underscore China’s leading position in global renewable energy production at a time when the US is increasingly worried about Chinese overcapacity and dumping, particularly in the solar industry.

Klein whined, bitterly, about the absence of trade tariffs on Chinese solar panels. As those were illegal under WTO rules they got banned and as a result a solar panel factory in Canada went bust. Well, OK, you can be nativist if you like but Klein’s actual complaint was that this was a blow in the fight against climate change. Canadians being restricted to only expensive home made panels would lead to more solar panel installation than Canadians being able to buy cheap solar panels from China. No, really, that was her argument. Wildly wrong, of course, but then Ms. Klein rarely does let us down.

The American complaint is that China has wildly overinvested in - perhaps even subsidised - the solar panel and cell industry. As a result the price to buyers is below what anyone unsubsidized or not wildly overcapacity can possibly sell at. The claim then is that this is a problem.

But we also have this climate change will be the death of us all idea. We’ve got to install solar as fast as we possibly can. Further, we actually subsidise factories to make such solar systems.

So, what’s actually happening here is - by allegation at least - that it’s the Chinese taxpayer taking the hit of saving the world not our own home grown and patriotic taxpayers.

We think this is an excellent idea. They’re paying and we’re not, the climate gets saved all the same.

Really, someone needs to tell us why cheap solar cells is a problem. Possibly of more importance in the long run is why is anyone lifting economic ideas from Ms. Klein?#

Tim Worstall