America's next Sputnik moment

For decades, renewable energy was seen as the catalyst behind any sustainable future — a clean and limitless alternative to the petrol-laced tightrope the world was walking. In the US, the movement first gained real momentum with the 1978 National Energy Act, which was passed in direct response to the devastating Arab oil embargo of 1973. The legislation helped spur research in wind and solar technologies, though it made little short-term impact on America's energy mix.

Recent years have seen clean energy take on a new sense of urgency, rising in parallel with both climate change awareness and discontent over US involvement in the oil-rich Middle East.

In his 2011 State of the Union speech, Obama famously described the clean energy movement as America's next "Sputnik moment."

Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik¸ we had no idea how we'd beat them to the moon. The science wasn't there yet. NASA didn't even exist. But after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs.

The US, he argued, would need a similar burst of innovation in order to balance growing energy demands with sustainable stewardship. Left unspoken, however, was an obvious corollary to Obama's analogy: if clean energy is this generation's space race, then China's renewable industry is its Soviet Space Program.

If clean energy is this generation’s space race, then China’s renewable industry is its Soviet Space Program

According to a UN report released in June, China invested $52 billion in renewable energy last year, comprising one-fifth of global expenditures. American investment was only slightly lower, at $51 billion, though this marked an impressive 57 percent year-on-year increase, compared with the 17 percent growth China saw.

This spending has already begun to pay dividends in the US, where by 2035, renewables are expected to comprise 23 percent of all electricity generation, according to the IEA. The EIA's outlook is slightly less optimistic — by 2040, renewables are projected to provide 16 percent of all US electricity — though the report notes that consumption is expected to increase at a faster rate than either gas or oil.

While ostensibly promising, these recent developments mask more systemic, long-term uncertainties within the US. The American renewable sector owes much of its recent growth to Obama's 2009 stimulus package — by definition, a temporary measure — which allocated $90 billion to various clean energy initiatives. Burgeoning industries like wind and solar, meanwhile, have long benefited from production and investment tax credits, though recent budget negotiations have now put the future of these programs in jeopardy.

If lawmakers fail to reach a deal during this month's "fiscal cliff" talks, the U.S. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program would lose $148 million in funding, according to a recent White House report. These cuts, the report notes, "would be equivalent to cutting the solar energy program at the Department of Energy in half, or equal to eliminating the entire wind and geothermal energy programs." And with the staunchly anti-renewable Rep. Lamar Smith now overseeing the Department of Energy, there's growing concern that clean energy may see its momentum halted.