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What Casey Handmer thinks about China

@casey-handmer · 76 positions · 2 changes of mind

Physicist, formerly at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and founder of Terraform Industries, which is building plant to make synthetic natural gas from sunlight and air. Writes about energy, space and manufacturing at caseyhandmer.wordpress.com.

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4 dated positions, 2025, in their own words. Our reading of what Casey Handmer has said — not written or endorsed by them.

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  1. Our readingChina's real weakness is not its economy but its geography: it imports almost all its oil across an ocean its navy cannot defend.

    Their wordsChina is surrounded by 15 countries who are mostly hostile to it, right? with no good like mountain ranges or rivers or anything to really separate them. And then they get all their oil, almost all their oil from the Middle East, right in countries that they don't control, don't have strong diplomatic relationships with on fleets of oil tankers that they can't defend because their navy doesn't have the ability to to operate effectively in the Indian Ocean.

    ↗China is killing the US on energy. Does that mean they’ll win AGI? — Casey Handmeryoutube.com 2nd of 24 in this recording

    Interesting

  3. Our readingCheap synthetic fuel made from sunlight and air would help China more than America, because it frees China from the oil it has to import.

    Their wordsIt absolutely asymmetrically helps China. We're not currently working with China. They don't plan to, but like the physics is very obvious, you know, and synthetic fuels have been around for 100 years.

    ↗China is killing the US on energy. Does that mean they’ll win AGI? — Casey Handmeryoutube.com 3rd of 24 in this recording

    Americaphysics

    Interesting

  5. Our readingChina's advantage in solar manufacturing is neither cheap labour nor a friendlier business environment: the first is gone and the second was never true.

    Their wordsso the mainstream view would say, well, China has cheaper labor, which is no longer true, uh, say compared to Mexico, and it's got lower environmental regulations, uh, which is true, and that it is more businessfriendly, which is absolutely crazy.

    ↗China is killing the US on energy. Does that mean they’ll win AGI? — Casey Handmeryoutube.com 4th of 24 in this recording

    solar

    Interesting

  7. Our readingTariffs are beside the point in the energy race with China; what is actually costing America is environmental regulation, and Texas is out-deploying California ten to one because of it.

    Their wordsIn terms of things that are causing us to lose to China, tariffs are neither here nor there because, as we've discussed, we're not sensitive to cost on power. But the environmental regulations that are actively preventing us from deploying renewable energy in the United States, like this is the reason Texas is winning. Texas is out deploying California 10 to1.

    ↗China is killing the US on energy. Does that mean they’ll win AGI? — Casey Handmeryoutube.com 16th of 24 in this recording

    energyAmericatariffs

    Interesting