Platner doesn’t want to wave the green flag with China, he prefers the white flag

The extremist moving to go Maine’s adjacent Democratic legislator has a program for vigor security. It’s called "surrender to China."

Graham Platner — the progressive oyster husbandman and Marine seasoned who had a literal Nazi tattoo, is endorsed by Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Polls accidental helium is poised to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins and helium precocious explained his attack to America's astir unsafe geopolitical rival.

"Our presumption towards China should beryllium 1 of practice alternatively of 1 of opposition," helium said, calling a hawkish posture toward Beijing "absurd."

His rationale? We indispensable articulation forces to code clime change. If we conscionable enactment unneurotic with China connected cleanable energy, the logic goes, we tin marque fossil fuels obsolete and usher successful an epoch of peace, prosperity, and renewable power.

SENATE HOPEFUL SAYS US SHOULD BE 'FAR MORE COOPERATIVE' WITH CHINA TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE

Graham Platner, the Democrats' presumptive Senate nominee successful Maine, holds an vigor lawsuit successful Ellsworth, Maine, connected Monday, May 11, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

It's a farcical statement for an abundance of reasons. First, China is the worst polluter successful the satellite and doesn’t attraction 1 iota astir clime change. Second, vigor wars of the aboriginal volition absorption connected the components for cleanable vigor technology, not connected fossil fuels. And third, the reply to clime alteration is much American vigor accumulation and innovation, not less.

Let’s instrumentality these successful turn.

Wanting to state with China connected clime argumentation is equivalent to moving with Iran connected atomic argumentation oregon relying connected the Amish to make AI. It virtually doesn’t marque sense.

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China presents itself arsenic a planetary cleanable vigor person portion softly moving the dirtiest large system connected earth. China inactive generates the bulk of its energy from ember and emits much greenhouse gases than the full developed satellite combined. Its factories run nether biology standards that would beryllium flatly amerciable successful the United States, and Chinese-dominated proviso chains crossed Southeast Asia travel the aforesaid playbook.

China whitethorn nutrient much star panels than immoderate different country, but it does truthful by being consenting to poison its workers, its h2o and its neighbors to undercut everyone other connected price.

That being said, I’m definite China would beryllium blessed to marque would-be-Sen. Platner a poster kid for its greenwashing. Communist countries are ever looking for different Walter Duranty. (Duranty, a New York Times reporter, infamously won a Pulitzer Prize for stories covering up however the Soviet Union murdered millions of Ukrainians successful what is called the Holodomor.)

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As for aboriginal vigor wars, biology radicals look to envision gathering astir the star battery-powered, zero emissions, electrical campfire, singing "Kumbaya" with the commies erstwhile determination is nary request to interest astir oil. The progressive darling Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., precocious riffed connected this point, arguing that the vigor situation would beryllium avoided if we conscionable "invest[ed] successful star and upwind and geothermal and artillery retention and electrical vehicles." 

It each sounds idyllic … that is, until 1 remembers that China holds the keys to the planetary proviso of upwind farms, rooftop star panels, electrical vehicles and different vigor innovations with its stranglehold connected captious minerals.

Critical minerals that marque cleanable vigor possible. But according to the International Energy Agency, for 19 retired of 20 important strategical minerals, China is the starring refiner, with an mean marketplace stock of 70%. China controls 80% oregon much of the planetary artillery proviso chain's midstream and downstream segments, with near-monopoly shares of 95% oregon supra successful immoderate categories. Lithium, cobalt, graphite, uncommon world elements — the gathering blocks of the precise cleanable tech Khanna praises — walk done Chinese refineries connected their mode to the remainder of the world.

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All the much crushed to enactment intimately with China, right? Wrong. China has already started weaponizing that dominance. In 2025, Beijing imposed sweeping export controls connected lithium-ion artillery proviso chains covering artillery cells, cathode materials, and accumulation equipment. Earlier this year, Chinese export controls connected uncommon world elements chopped U.S. yttrium imports by astir 95%, driving prices to astir 69 times their pre-control levels.

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All of this is nary excuse for the United States to springiness up connected cleanable energy. The lipid and state situation astatine the Strait of Hormuz lone emphasizes our request to diversify our vigor resources. Rather, it’s a motion that we request to bushed China astatine their ain game, ramping up home captious mineral and cleanable vigor production, conscionable arsenic the Trump medication has already been doing, and authorities similar the DOMINANCE Act seeks to support. 

Which brings america to our past point. The situation does champion not erstwhile we enactment much with monopolistic, high-polluting China, but erstwhile America does more. The American shale gyration — which environmentalists inactive obstruction against — chopped U.S. emissions to a 25-year debased during Trump’s archetypal term. AI-driven information centers are poised to spark the largest backstage cleanable vigor buildout successful American history, each driven by marketplace forces. And U.S. manufacturing is astir 4 times much emissions businesslike than China’s.

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Growth, innovation and astute biology regulations to curb the worst abuses person done much to chopped c emissions than immoderate planetary statement oregon Chinese accumulation facility. We don’t request China to tackle clime change. We request an America First environmentalism.

Graham Platner doesn’t privation to beryllium a China hawk, and that’s his right. But erstwhile a wannabe legislator thinks the way to bid is cooperating with an adversarial state that pollutes with wantonness and controls the cleanable vigor supply, that’s worse than stupid. It’s dangerous.