US Democratic senators emphasised the need for the country to push forward in its climate ambitions, especially given China's position as an energy transition transition leader.
China has a plan, US senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) warned, pointing to the country's ambitions in renewables, electric vehicles and batteries. "If they have a plan and we do not have a plan, we will lose," he said, adding that US president-elect Donald Trump "does not have a plan".
"We will lose markets around the planet, we will lose the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that otherwise would have been incentivised here in the US," Markey said.
US senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) echoed this sentiment. "If we don't keep moving forward, other countries will eat our lunch," he said.
But the two senators are holding out hope that not all is lost in the race to be an energy transition leader, despite the incoming Trump presidency. "An enormous amount of the climate work that's being done in the US is being done at the state and municipal level," Whitehouse said, adding that a lot can get done "irrespective of who the president is".
Whitehouse also noted that the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) creates an emission-based tariff that will "[fall] much more heavily" on Chinese products because of China's emissions, which will help to incentivise manufacturing and jobs to move to the US. There are also bipartisan carbon tariff conversations happening, he added, emphasising that there are plenty of opportunities for progress around carbon tariffs.
"If the US has a plan and China has a plan, we will win," Markey said. "But you have to have a plan," he said, adding that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is one of such plans. Markey also believes that Donald Trump is "in for a rude awakening" should he try to repeal the IRA. Trump will learn a lot about "how many Republican congressmen want to have stuff made in America," he added.
US climate advisor John Podesta also noted that Trump will face opposition even from Republican-led districts earlier this week. Around 57pc of new clean energy jobs created since the IRA are in congressional districts represented by republicans, he said. "Support for clean energy has become bipartisan, many republicans especially governors know all this activity is a good thing for their districts, states and for their economies."
