Floor SpeechNeutral2026-01-13

CHINA IS NOT SCAMMING EUROPE AND UNITED STATES ON WIND POWER

TaxesEnvironmentForeign PolicyDefenseChina

Context

On 2026-01-13, Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT-2) delivered a floor speech titled "CHINA IS NOT SCAMMING EUROPE AND UNITED STATES ON WIND POWER" in the House. The speech addressed taxes and also covered the environment, foreign policy.

Full Text

CHINA IS NOT SCAMMING EUROPE AND UNITED STATES ON WIND POWER

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 9 (Tuesday, January 13, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 13, 2026)] [House] [Page H667] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] CHINA IS NOT SCAMMING EUROPE AND UNITED STATES ON WIND POWER The SPEAKER pro tempore. Thank you. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Connecticut, Mr. Courtney, for 5 minutes. =========================== NOTE =========================== On January 13, 2026, on Page H667, first column the following appeared: (Mr. COURTNEY of Connecticut was recognized to address the House for 5 minutes.) The online version has been corrected to read: The SPEAKER pro tempore. Thank you. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Connecticut, Mr. Courtney, for 5 minutes. ========================= END NOTE ========================= Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, last Friday, President Trump hosted a meeting at the White House with all the major oil company executives and members of his Cabinet to talk about Venezuelan oil. During the televised gathering, he veered off topic and rambled on one of his pet peeves, wind power. In addition to his usual complaints about how aesthetically ugly wind turbines are, he added another new, startling criticism to his repertoire, mainly that Europe and the U.S. are suckers for allowing China to sell us wind turbine parts while at the same time China doesn't even use wind power in its own country. Here is exactly what he said: ``All you have to do is say to China, how many windmill areas do you have in China? So far, they are not able to find any. They use coal, and they use oil and gas and some nuclear, not much. But they don't have windmills. They make them and sell them to suckers like Europe and suckers like the United States.'' Mr. Speaker, the truth of the matter is, as this headline yesterday from Forbes magazine states: ``China Does In Fact Have Wind Turbines, A Lot Of Them.'' Forbes, of course, is hardly a leftwing, anti-Trump media outlet. As its article accurately reports, not only does China's wind industry exist, but it is huge. According to the International Energy Agency, which has been tracking energy production by country for decades, China not only manufactures wind equipment but also enjoys the largest wind production in the world and today has twice as much new wind power under construction as the rest of the world combined. The wind turbines are sited both onshore and offshore. Ironically, one of the oil executives who was in the room on Friday, from Conoco, is an investor and partner in a wind project in Bohai Bay, China. Mr. Speaker, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being accurate and 1 being false, President Trump's comments deserve a score of minus 10. China is not scamming Europe and the U.S. on wind power. It is, in fact, the most aggressive domestic user and builder of wind power in the world. I raise this point, Mr. Speaker, not to play gotcha--although this is a pretty embarrassing gotcha--but rather to remind the House that, right now, in real life, the Trump bogus attack on wind power, for no good reason, is destroying good American jobs and cutting off an abundant supply of new energy, which our economy and American electricity ratepayers desperately need. For example, a couple of weeks ago, for the second time, the administration issued a decree terminating five offshore wind projects, many of which are close to completion and which were supported by billions of dollars of private investment and years of permitting approval. Together, these projects will bring in thousands of new megawatts of power to consumers in New England, New York, and Virginia. Trump's halt work order cited vague, nonspecific national security concerns as justification for this antiworker, anti-ratepayer, and antigrowth decree. Luckily, Mr. Speaker, we have a government of laws. Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth here in Washington struck down this frivolous decree so that crane operators, laborers, and electricians can get back to work this morning to create a modern and robust energy grid for the 21st century. Judge Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, thoroughly reviewed the record of the New England-based Revolution Wind offshore project and correctly determined that the Department, in fact, did not find a national security problem but instead specifically issued a written finding a year ago that Revolution's turbines ``would not have adverse impacts to DOD missions.'' Mr. Speaker, you may recall, last September, the House debated an amendment to the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, where there was an attempt to create a statutory bar to offshore wind based on national security reasons. The House voted to reject such a straitjacket on wind power and instead rely on the experts at DOD to judge each project on the facts and science. By the way, Mr. Speaker, just for the record, the turbine blades and components in the Revolution Wind project are not made in China. Up in New England, we pride ourselves on not, in fact, being suckers. Mr. Speaker, it is time for the administration's unfounded, irrational attack against wind power to stop. Contrary to what the President said, the rest of the world, including China, is aggressively pursuing this abundant source of power. For the United States to intentionally deprive American building trade workers of good-paying jobs and deprive our national grid of much-needed energy supply makes no sense. The best way to cut electricity rates for consumers is to expand the energy supply. As the rest of the world recognizes, wind has to be part of that solution. Mr. Speaker, the only suckers in this area are policymakers in Washington who are spouting off blatantly false narratives about the value of wind energy. ____________________

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CHINA IS NOT SCAMMING EUROPE AND UNITED STATES ON WIND POWER Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 9 (Tuesday, January 13, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 13, 2026)] [House] [Page H667] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] CHINA IS NOT SCAMMING EUROPE AND UNITED STATES ON WIND POWER The SPEAKER pro tempore. Thank you. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Connecticut, Mr. Courtney, for 5 minutes. =========================== NOTE =========================== On January 13, 2026, on Page H667, first column the following appeared: (Mr. COURTNEY of Connecticut was recognized to address the House for 5 minutes.) The online version has been corrected to read: The SPEAKER pro tempore. Thank you. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Connecticut, Mr. Courtney, for 5 minutes. ========================= END NOTE ========================= Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, last Friday, President Trump hosted a meeting at the White House with all the major oil company executives and members of his Cabinet to talk about Venezuelan oil. During the televised gathering, he veered off topic and rambled on one of his pet peeves, wind power. In addition to his usual complaints about how aesthetically ugly wind turbines are, he added another new, startling criticism to his repertoire, mainly that Europe and the U.S. are suckers for allowing China to sell us wind turbine parts while at the same time China doesn't even use wind power in its own country. Here is exactly what he said: ``All you have to do is say to China, how many windmill areas do you have in China? So far, they are not able to find any. They use coal, and they use oil and gas and some nuclear, not much. But they don't have windmills. They make them and sell them to suckers like Europe and suckers like the United States.'' Mr. Speaker, the truth of the matter is, as this headline yesterday from Forbes magazine states: ``China Does In Fact Have Wind Turbines, A Lot Of Them.'' Forbes, of course, is hardly a leftwing, anti-Trump media outlet. As its article accurately reports, not only does China's wind industry exist, but it is huge. According to the International Energy Agency, which has been tracking energy production by country for decades, China not only manufactures wind equipment but also enjoys the largest wind production in the world and today has twice as much new wind power under construction as the rest of the world combined. The wind turbines are sited both onshore and offshore. Ironically, one of the oil executives who was in the room on Friday, from Conoco, is an investor and partner in a wind project in Bohai Bay, China. Mr. Speaker, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being accurate and 1 being false, President Trump's comments deserve a score of minus 10. China is not scamming Europe and the U.S. on wind power. It is, in fact, the most aggressive domestic user and builder of wind power in the world. I raise this point, Mr. Speaker, not to play gotcha--although this is a pretty embarrassing gotcha--but rather to remind the House that, right now, in real life, the Trump bogus attack on wind power, for no good reason, is destroying good American jobs and cutting off an abundant supply of new energy, which our economy and American electricity ratepayers desperately need. For example, a couple of weeks ago, for the second time, the administration issued a decree terminating five offshore wind projects, many of which are close to completion and which were supported by billions of dollars of private investment and years of permitting approval. Together, these projects will bring in thousands of new megawatts of power to consumers in New England, New York, and Virginia. Trump's halt work order cited vague, nonspecific national security concerns as justification for this antiworker, anti-ratepayer, and antigrowth decree. Luckily, Mr. Speaker, we have a government of laws. Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth here in Washington struck down this frivolous decree so that crane operators, laborers, and electricians can get back to work this morning to create a modern and robust energy grid for the 21st century. Judge Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, thoroughly reviewed the record of the New England-based Revolution Wind offshore project and correctly determined that the Department, in fact, did not find a national security problem but instead specifically issued a written finding a year ago that Revolution's turbines ``would not have adverse impacts to DOD missions.'' Mr. Speaker, you may recall, last September, the House debated an amendment to the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, where there was an attempt to create a statutory bar to offshore wind based on national security reasons. The House voted to reject such a straitjacket on wind power and instead rely on the experts at DOD to judge each project on the facts and science. By the way, Mr. Speaker, just for the record, the turbine blades and components in the Revolution Wind project are not made in China. Up in New England, we pride ourselves on not, in fact, being suckers. Mr. Speaker, it is time for the administration's unfounded, irrational attack against wind power to stop. Contrary to what the President said, the rest of the world, including China, is aggressively pursuing this abundant source of power. For the United States to intentionally deprive American building trade workers of good-paying jobs and deprive our national grid of much-needed energy supply makes no sense. The best way to cut electricity rates for consumers is to expand the energy supply. As the rest of the world recognizes, wind has to be part of that solution. Mr. Speaker, the only suckers in this area are policymakers in Washington who are spouting off blatantly false narratives about the value of wind energy. ____________________