COVERITLIVE.COM

12:00

The Oregonian - Welcome to our live chat with reporter Amy Hsuan. If you have a question, enter it in the box below.

12:02

The Oregonian - Thanks for joining us, Amy. Here's a question to get us rolling: Does investing in tax breaks for solar companies pay off in the long run if the Chinese are going to beat us anyway?

12:03

Amy Hsuan - In the next year, there's little question that the solar industry will struggle.

12:03

Amy Hsuan - But it's difficult to see what's going to happen with solar in the next five to 10 years, which is what Oregon lawmakers are considering when it comes to growing jobs.

12:03

Amy Hsuan - A lot of analysts say the industry is really going to take off, and as it is now, the U.S. is a fairly wide open market because the technologies haven't been take up on a wide-scale.

12:04

Amy Hsuan - This is an advantage for Oregon's industry, being on the ground floor of the next big market.

12:04

Amy Hsuan - Problem is, in the short term, it really depends on the government subsidies because solar won't be attractive to most consumers without the subsidies. And if you look at Spain, you can see that without the subsidies, there is no market at all.

12:06

[Comment From Jerry Casey]
Hi Amy, What are the biggest difference you've seen between China when you first visited and when you were there last year?

12:06

Amy Hsuan - The biggest difference is probably the buildings

12:07

Amy Hsuan - There are entire neighborhoods that are gone now, replaced by brand new skyscrapers. Everything in beijing feels relatively new.

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