对华太阳能电池板关税正在扼杀美国就业

与此同时，美国制造商Solyndra——美国能源部5.35亿美元贷款担保的受益人——仍在申请其备受争议的破产保护。这也许是该裁定伪善面目的Z佳例证：通过这一贷款担保，美国能源部无视未创收的初创企业所蕴含的风险，使得Solyndra得以以极低的利率进行借贷。这让人不禁疑惑，若从其他途径借贷，Solyndra的利率该有多高呢？

我们的计算显示，该“补贴”对Solyndra的价值起码达20亿美元，而且仅仅是美国本土提供的众多类似“补贴”之一。另一家于去年申请破产的美国太阳能电池板制造商常青太阳能（Evergreen Solar），曾从当时的马萨诸塞州州长、如今的共和党总统竞选人米特·罗姆尼（Mitt Romney）手中接过250万美元的贷款。这一问题已经超越了政治界限。

讽刺之处在于，世界领先的太阳能电池生产国不是美国所应追求的角色。事实上，美国光伏组件生产商第一太阳能公司（First Solar）被广泛认为享有业内Z低的生产成本。而太阳能世界与Solyndra所争夺的则是一个利润空间极窄、自动化水平不断提高，并且同质化日趋严重的市场。换言之，美国在这里无用武之地。

在另一方面，如太阳能城市（SolarCity）、Sungevity以及都市绿色能源（Urban Green Energy）等公司正专注于太阳能与可再生能源科技的实际安装使用，而不仅仅是电池板的制造。藉此，这些企业正在急速增长，为美国创造数以千计的就业机会，在数量上远超同行制造业所能提供的就业数量，且无法外包。另外，这些企业正在全球范围内进行规模化扩张，将验证过的商业模式带到海外，提升美国企业在全球能源行业中的领先地位。

除此之外，众多美国领先企业都受益于从世界各地进口不太昂贵的可再生能源组件，促进美国新一代清洁技术的创新。例如，都市清洁能源与美国Z多产的企业之一通用电气（General Electric）合作，设计了Sanya Skypump——世界上z个风力电动汽车充电站。

在香港上市的太阳能电池板生产商比亚迪（BYD）得到了沃伦·巴菲特特（Warren Buffet）旗下伯克希尔-哈撒韦（Berkshire Hathaway）公司的投资，而Z近该公司披露其生产的电动汽车蓄电池销量低于预期，给盈利造成压力。在致力于可持续科技并可能受到这些关税政策重创的企业中，比亚迪（在美国设有办事处）就是一个明显例证。

还有更糟糕的，不妨看看关税措施公布不久后我收到的一封电子邮件。邮件来自于美国著名的可再生能源产品提供商Conergy。Conergy指出，在美国商务部制裁中国供应商的措施出台后，他们将提供来自现代集团（Hyundai）“价格颇具竞争力的”太阳能电池板。是的，没错——关税没有给美国制造商带来任何好处，只不过让生意从中国转移到了韩国，而且使得美国生产商所购买到的零部件更加昂贵。

多年来，中国都因为不可持续的能源措施而受到世界各国的大加指责；而如今，当其投资数百万美元促进可再生能源的发展之后，它又因为太具竞争力而受到惩罚。Z糟糕的是，在惩罚中国企业的同时，美国商务部也令美国企业成了受害者。

LinkedInZ近发布的一份报告显示，从2005到2010年，加州太阳能产业就业机会增长166%，甚至在金融危机爆发之后，可再生能源也继续领跑美国就业增长。而当绿色能源应用解决方案日益增多之时，太阳能电池板制造商却追赶得很吃力，主要原因很简单：供过于求。问题在于需求的上升没有预期中那么快，一定程度上是因为生产目标是由头脑过热的政客主观确定的。事实上，中国供应商如今也承受着巨大的压力——看看他们的股价表现多么糟糕，你就知道他们已经深受其苦了。

美国面临着一个选择：是拥抱自由市场与竞争，打败对手，成为行业领袖——一如以往一贯的作风；还是闭门造车，自我封闭以避免同外界竞争？美国要不要高筑贸易壁垒以保护自身不受外界竞争？嘿，朝鲜不就是这么做吗？

可持续发展的出路不是升级与中国之间的贸易战，而是在美国本土创造就业并激励创新。这两者所带来的结果是截然相反的。是时候为作出明智的选择，而不是具有政治吸引力的选择了。

本文作者系都市绿色能源公司创始人兼CEO尼克·布里特斯维克（Nick Blitterswyk）及该公司业务发展部门的迈卡·斯泰格尔（Micah Steiger）和大卫·德罗兹（David Droz）。

尼克、大卫与米卡就职于都市绿色能源公司，一家总部位于纽约的可再生能源解决方案公司。都市绿色能源公司为全球各地的居民、商户以及远程通讯设备设计分布式风力与太阳能能源发电系统。

Will Greek Elections Dash Athens' Solar Dreams?

As talk of Euro crisis remedies recently shifted from austerity to growth, one lifeline floated by Athens was the country’s Helios Solar project – an expansive green energy farm with an initial production of 2GW and eventual output of 10GW. Proponents of the effort argued that the farm would serve to increase the country’s green energy input and, more importantly, help pay for Greece’s currently unmanageable debt through sales to European neighbors, namely Germany. Helios could help harness the Mediterranean country’s enormous solar potential, while offering some positive growth and confidence in a country in dire need of both.

The only problem, it seemed, was the $27 billion price tag, which would be a hard sale for anyone, but especially a government barely able to keep basic services in place, let alone float enormous new development projects. For a short while, the project was kept afloat by the prospect of a European Union structural reserve, with Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso introducing the possibility of about 12 billion in unspent funds earlier this year. While it may not have been enough to not cover the estimated $27 billion cost of the project, it would certainly help get things moving and offer a bit of confidence to outside industry and financial investors.

However, as the country moves closer to Sunday’s elections, it’s looking more and more likely that the strong connection with Brussels needed to ensure those funds is at risk, no matter who comes out on top.

If the left-leaning, anti-bailout SYRIZA party wins an outright majority, it has pledged to take a hard line towards renegotiating its agreements with the country’s creditors, including the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank. That kind of move is likely to result in the kind of strained relations with the rest of Europe that would make structural funds a fantasy and possibility put the country firmly on track for an exit from the currency within a few months.

Separated from their opponents by a thin margin, the right-leaning, pro-bailout New Democracy would face challenges all their own, including a tough road to a parliamentary majority, making further EU-proposed cuts and funding negotiations all the more difficult to pass. Even if they were able to achieve a two or three party coalition, it “would most likely prove unstable, and the cabinet would face considerable resistance in and outside parliament from a strengthened SYRIZA in opposition,” wrote Eurasia Group’s Head of Practice, Wolfango Piccoli in a report on the election this week.

Although Greek election laws forbid polls within two weeks of election day making predictions difficult, who ever wins will find it difficult to keep the country in a place where the kind of EU funds necessary to kick-start the Helios project would be even possible. Without EU input, there is little chance of kick-starting the project and if the EU cannot find a reason to invest in Greek solar, its unlikely anyone else will either