When US President Barack Obama met Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday, the United States' new enthusiasm for trade restrictions against Chinese renewable technologies was a concern.

On Jan 14, President Obama signed a defense appropriation law including a "Buy American" provision prohibiting the Pentagon from purchasing Chinese solar panels. This constraint is on top of a US government launched WTO case intended to reduce imports of Chinese wind turbines. I have long advocated a national energy policy that will release the US' monumental potential of renewable technologies, but a trade war with China over renewables is a terrible idea - not just for US jobs and prosperity, but also the environment.

The Chinese have mounted a robust and successful challenge to European and US dominance in solar panel and wind turbine manufacturing. Chinese companies now account for half of the world's solar panel production. But the US gains far more in the way of jobs and prosperity from China's low-cost solar panels and super-efficient wind turbines than we lose.