Thread by @wmhuo168

Humanity only advances when it learns to master new forms of energy. China once led that charge. It’s doing so again, this time with green energy. And this time, it’s not just progress. It’s survival.

https://x.com/agent_of_change/status/1938711493463114000?t=b-qnjs1404I0O93NTI7viw&s=09

Energy drives civilization. From firewood to steam, coal to electricity, every leap in productivity and power came from a leap in energy use. Those who mastered it ruled. Those who didn’t faded. (1/11)

For centuries, China led the world in energy innovation. It pioneered coal use, built hydraulic infrastructure, and developed large-scale iron production using wood charcoal long before the West caught up. (2/11)

By the Song dynasty, China’s iron output rivaled 18th century Britain. It did so by nearly deforesting half the country. Industrial-scale charcoal use wasn’t new. China was already there 800 years ago. (3/11)

But China’s trajectory was interrupted. Foreign invasion, civil war, and colonization pushed it out of the energy race just as the West rode oil, coal, and empire into global supremacy. (4/11)

The fossil era wasn’t just about machines. It was about monopoly. Western powers seized oil fields, enforced extraction with violence, and built financial empires off the back of stolen energy. (5/11)

China never had that option. It had to develop on its own soil, with its own labor, and its own resources. That’s exactly what it’s doing now. At a pace no other country can match. (6/11)

Between January and May 2025, China added 198 GW of solar and 46 GW of wind. That’s enough to power a country like Indonesia, with nearly 280 million people. In just five months. (7/11)

No one else is even in the same arena. Western democracies are busy appeasing fossil donors, slow-rolling regulations, and outsourcing infrastructure to private equity parasites. (8/11)

China treats energy as a public good and a national priority. It acts with intent. It plans in decades. It doesn’t wait for market signals or lobbyist approval. It builds. (9/11)

If democracy means rule in the public interest, then this is what real democracy looks like. Not slogans. Not gridlock. But action. Green energy at civilization scale. (10/11)

The West had its oil-soaked century. It used it to wage wars and enrich a few. China is building the next century on renewables, national planning, and human survival. That’s what leadership looks like. (11/11)