From The Ripon Forum

April 2026

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An American Strategy for Global Clean Energy Leadership

Innovate Fast, Build Here, Sell Globally


** by Jeremy Harrell
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Energy security is no longer just about how much energy a nation produces at home. While America has rightly focused on deploying energy systems domestically, competitors like China and Russia are working to manipulate and corner global energy markets to their advantage. The world needs more energy to power the industries of the future, and the nation that builds the next generation of energy technologies, finances the infrastructure and secures the supply chains will win in those global markets and wield long-term strategic leverage.

The race for energy dominance has never been more vital than it is today, and America’s strategy to compete globally must meet this moment.

The scale of the opportunity is enormous. In 2025, worldwide energy investment ([link removed]) reached roughly $3.3 trillion, including about $2.2 trillion for clean energy technologies and infrastructure. Over the rest of this decade, the world will need to add thousands of gigawatts of new power capacity driven by the expansion of AI, increasing electrification of economies and new industrial production at home and abroad. However, recent ClearPath analysis ([link removed]) found that since 2015, China has outpaced the United States nearly ten-to-one in financing global energy projects, establishing itself as the primary partner to key nations.

China's share of global manufacturing in six clean energy technologies – solar PV, wind, electric vehicles, batteries, electrolyzers and heat pumps – is around 70 percent.

Strategic clean energy systems will be among the world's biggest growth markets. The question is whether the U.S. will be the leading solutions provider for that market or continue to watch China dominate.

China’s rise in this market is the result of a multi-decade strategy including massive state subsidies, unfair trading practices, intellectual property theft, poor environmental standards and a relentless focus on scale. China’s share of global manufacturing ([link removed]) in six clean energy technologies – solar PV, wind, electric vehicles, batteries, electrolyzers and heat pumps – is around 70 percent. Additionally, China is the top producer of 20 critical minerals ([link removed]) and commands a 70 percent ([link removed]) market share of global refining capacity for strategic minerals that underpin modern energy technologies.

This competition is also expanding into technologies where the U.S. has an opportunity to seize the lead, if we move with urgency. Nuclear energy is a clear example. Today, China has 35 of the world’s 72 nuclear reactors ([link removed]) under construction. Over the past decade, most new reactor construction starts globally have relied on Chinese or Russian designs. For its part, Russia has spent years building influence through reactor exports and long-term nuclear partnerships. That should be a wake-up call. Countries are not just choosing technologies. They are choosing suppliers, financing partners and strategic relationships that can last for generations.

The answer for the U.S. is not to copy or out-subsidize China and Russia. Instead, we should play to our uniquely American strengths and do it with much greater focus. The U.S. still has the best innovation ecosystem in the world. We have deep capital markets, world-class research institutions, top engineering talent and a private sector that can move faster and adapt better than any centrally planned economy. We also have something China does not: a network of allies and partners that want American energy.

That’s why the right strategy for American energy dominance is simple: innovate fast, build here and sell globally.

The answer for the U.S. is not to copy or out-subsidize China and Russia. Instead, we should play to our uniquely American strengths and do it with much greater focus.

First, the U.S. should double down on technologies where we can innovate quickly to define the future instead of chasing where China already has scale. Advanced nuclear is a key technology area where U.S. companies are rapidly innovating small modular reactors (SMRs), microreactors, fusion machines and more. By some estimates ([link removed]) , the market for new nuclear generation could reach about $380 billion annually by 2050, presenting a huge strategic and commercial opportunity for American innovators. Enhanced geothermal systems present another technology ([link removed]) area where the U.S. currently holds genuine technological superiority over China and Russia with advanced drilling techniques adapted from the oil and gas industry. The International Energy Agency forecasts
([link removed]) that geothermal could meet up to 15 percent of global electricity demand growth through 2050. These are not niche technologies. They are high-potential platforms for American leadership.

Second, energy innovation only matters if the technology can be built at speed and scale. That means modernizing permitting, strengthening domestic manufacturing and putting steel in the ground for the infrastructure needed to support rising electricity demand. In this environment, slow approvals for transmission lines, reactors, mines and pipelines are not just frustrating. They are a competitive disadvantage. If it takes America too long to build, our competitors will pass us by and the world will buy from someone else.

Third, for American innovators to win in global energy markets, tools like the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM), the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) can help level the playing field if they are used with a clear strategic purpose. American innovation should not stop at our borders. It should power a stronger global demand for clean, affordable and reliable U.S. energy. But our economic policy tools must be fit for purpose. Reauthorizing and modernizing EXIM ([link removed]) this year would be an important step forward. With the right enhancements, EXIM can help scale advanced nuclear, geothermal, LNG infrastructure and other strategic clean energy systems in markets that are growing rapidly. Just as important is better coordination across EXIM, DFC and USTDA, along with closer partnerships with allies. Concepts like Energy Security Compacts
([link removed]) offer a practical path by aligning diplomacy, project development, financing and exports into a unified approach.

This strategy is focused on ensuring that America shapes the next generation of global energy systems. The countries that finance and deploy these technologies will do more than win market share. They will build alliances, set standards and strengthen their position in the world all while reducing global emissions.

As Republicans, we should be confident in making that case. Supporting strategic clean energy systems is a practical extension of conservative principles. It means backing innovation, strengthening domestic industry, expanding exports and reducing dependence on adversarial supply chains. It means understanding that energy dominance and global energy leadership go hand in hand.

Jeremy Harrell is the CEO of ClearPath, a conservative energy organization whose mission is to accelerate American innovation to reduce global energy emissions.

The Ripon Forum is published six times a year by The Ripon Society, a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 –Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.

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