Ted Cruz Says China Wins and America Loses on ‘Green’ Energy

Senator’s new book looks at the origins of ‘woke’ ideology in America and how it can be counteracted.
Ted Cruz Says China Wins and America Loses on ‘Green’ Energy
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks on Title 42 immigration policy in Washington on May 3, 2023. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Austin Alonzo
Jan Jekielek
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China stands to gain more as the United States and the West roll back fossil fuel usage, thanks to its control of important refining and manufacturing facilities needed for renewable energy production, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in an EpochTV interview broadcast on Nov. 10.

In an American Thought Leaders interview with Jan Jekielek, a senior editor with The Epoch Times, Mr. Cruz said that most components used in solar and wind energy are manufactured in China.

Moreover, most of the refining capacity for rare earth elements, cobalt, copper, and nickel is located in China.

Mr. Cruz said the Democratic Party and corporate media are pushing the so-called Green New Deal, which would shift the U.S. energy supply away from fossil fuels and nuclear energy toward renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

“China controls refining capacity for 73 percent of the world’s cobalt, 40 percent of the copper, 59 percent of the lithium, 68 percent of the nickel, and 83 percent of the rare earth metals,” Mr. Cruz said. “Every one of those is necessary for wind and solar power.

“How about finished products?

“China is responsible for 80 percent of global solar panel manufacturing. ... 70 percent of global wind turbine manufacturing, and 77 percent of global lithium-ion battery manufacturing.”

A Green New Deal then, Mr. Cruz argued, would be giving up on an energy source where “America is the dominant superpower” and adopting one where “China is the dominant superpower.”

“[China] will have a stranglehold over our economy and our national security,” he said. “I don’t know how you defend that on the merits. And yet, that is orthodoxy.”

In 2022, only 13 percent of the United States’ energy was generated by renewable sources, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), a part of the U.S. Department of Energy charged with collecting, analyzing, and disseminating independent and impartial energy information.

The rest came from petroleum, 36 percent; natural gas, 33 percent; coal, 10 percent; and nuclear electric power, 8 percent.

The United States became a net total energy exporter in 2019, according to the EIA, meaning that it exported more energy products than it used. Total U.S. energy exports hit a record peak in 2022, led by natural gas exports.

The CCP and ‘Woke’ Ideology

Mr. Cruz appeared on American Thought Leaders to promote his new book, “Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America,” which was released on Nov. 7.

The book examines how American institutions such as public schools, universities, journalism, government, big business, big technology, and entertainment have been “seized by the radical left,” he said.

A sign-up page for the application TikTok is shown on a cellphone in front of a screen with logos for the company in Sydney on April 4, 2023. (Rick Rycroft/AP Photo)
A sign-up page for the application TikTok is shown on a cellphone in front of a screen with logos for the company in Sydney on April 4, 2023. Rick Rycroft/AP Photo

Mr. Cruz examines Marxism, a political and social ideology proposed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their 1848 book “The Communist Manifesto.”

The ideology frames human history as a story of economic class struggle.

The modern solution, according to communist thought, is for the underclass to seize power through violent revolution and redistribute wealth.

Now, cultural Marxists examine the world through a lens of oppressors versus victims, Mr. Cruz said.

Similarly, cultural Marxism calls for violent revolution where the oppressed—whether they be racially or socially disadvantaged—rise and seize power while punishing their oppressors.

This idea truly began to take root in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s when Marxists began “infiltrating” U.S. universities as professors and administrators, according to Mr. Cruz.

In that period, Marxist thought spawned ideas such as critical race theory. That thought, he said, pushes the idea that “America is irredeemably racist” and that a violent overthrow is necessary by the victims to achieve justice.

Then, as now, Mr. Cruz said the Chinese Communist Party was a key player in spreading Marxist thought around the world.

Its influence has only grown as millions of young people in the United States and around the world spend their free time browsing TikTok.

The app is a video looping and sharing service owned by Chinese internet technology company ByteDance, which is closely linked to the communist-controlled Chinese government.

Mr. Cruz said that TikTok is designed to push messages “harmful to America.”

“The Chinese government has control over [TikTok]. It has access to the information,” he said. “It’s an espionage tool. ... designed to spy on Americans in particular.

“We see TikTok pushing ... our kids’ self-harm, pushing substance abuse, pushing all sorts of messages that are designed to destroy the children of America.”

Austin Alonzo covers U.S. political and national news for The Epoch Times. He has covered local, business and agricultural news in Kansas City, Missouri, since 2012. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri. You can reach Austin via email at [email protected]
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