Tom Malinowski: “Our Republican colleagues are right about one thing: China is taking advantage of us. But it is not taking advantage of…”

“Our Republican colleagues are right about one thing: China is taking advantage of us. But it is not taking advantage of America being in the Paris accord. It is taking advantage of our retreat. China is our strategic competitor. It should pain all of us that everywhere around the world, China is being treated like the leader in fighting climate change. It should pain us that China is investing more money in renewable energy than any other country. It should pain us that they are surging ahead of us in electric vehicles. It should pain us that they are racing to dominate the global market in lithium batteries, that they have two-thirds of the world's high-speed rail and have spent over $100 billion on it in 2018. Why is China spending hundreds of billions of dollars to make the transition to clean energy? Let me tell you, it is not because the Chinese Communist Party loves trees. It is because they want to win the future. I want America to win the future. I want us to reap the economic benefits and the jobs that will go to whoever wins the race to a clean energy future. How do our Republican colleagues propose to win that race? I have looked at their record in the years when they controlled this House. I searched in vain for one free-market-based plan. What did I find?…”