“Never just read one newspaper” is one of my media literacy rules. Sometimes even that fails, as it did on Monday, April 13, 2026, when the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal both weighed in with suspiciously similar, and sadly unskeptical, stories claiming that the Iran war somehow provided vindication for China’s emphasis on wind and solar energy. [some emphasis, links added]
How’d the New York Times (“War Highlights China’s Renewables Lead“) and the Wall Street Journal (“An Iran War Winner: China’s Clean Energy“) wind up with the same bad takes on the same story on the same day?
Their editors likely were both reading the Associated Press (AP), a wire service that drives newsroom agendas by providing a tip sheet in advance, disclosing what stories the AP is working on.
The AP had its own version of the same story, headlined, “Iran war’s global energy crisis sharpens China’s advantage in clean tech.”
Datelined Hong Kong, a China-controlled territory where journalists are imprisoned if they publish articles that the Chinese authorities disapprove of, the AP story begins, “China is poised to benefit from the Iran war as global energy disruptions accelerate a shift away from fossil fuels and toward clean technologies and renewable power, industries that China dominates.”
The gist of the story—that the Iran war somehow demonstrates that China is right about wind and solar energy—is a fantasy, not a fact.
Even if you rely on China’s own unreliable data, the International Energy Agency lists coal and coal products as 71 percent of China’s energy production, and solar, wind, and other renewables combined at 5.4 percent.
Even if you rely on China’s own unreliable data, the International Energy Agency lists coal and coal products as 71 percent of China’s energy production, and solar, wind, and other renewables combined at 5.4 percent.
Not everyone agrees that the Iran war is a win for China, energy-wise.
President Trump posted to Truth Social over the weekend, “Massive numbers of completely empty oil tankers, some of the largest anywhere in the World, are heading, right now, to the United States to load up with the best and ‘sweetest’ oil (and gas!) anywhere in the World. We have more oil than the next two largest oil economies combined – and higher quality. We are waiting for you. Quick turnaround! President DJT”
Trump also posted a world map of marine traffic depicting tankers headed for the U.S. to fill up. “GREAT!!!,” Trump commented.
“The U.S. is going to make a fortune,” said an Israeli reserve brigadier general, Amir Avivi, the founder and chairman of Israel’s Defense and Security Forum.
Avivi said in Monday’s IDSF briefing that American interests for the conflict include moving Iran “from alliance with China to alliance with the United States.”
He also said that a successful war outcome for America would likely include Iranian oil being traded in petrodollars as part of the SWIFT system (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) rather than on the black market.
A headline that said “Iran War Winner: U.S. Fracking and Offshore Drilling” would be as accurate, probably more accurate, than the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Associated Press headlines. It’s unlikely to appear so long as the AP is driving the agenda.
The AP used to be funded largely by dues from member newspapers. But as the newspaper industry has collapsed, the AP has become increasingly reliant on grants from nonprofit organizations with ideological agendas.
The AP website also lists a “partnership” with the China News Service. It describes the China News Service as providing “News and insight from daily life in China,” illustrating the partnership with a pair of adorable pandas.
“China News Service (CNS) provides in-depth news from China to an international audience, with coverage including feature stories and topics such as current events, art, lifestyle, people and travel,” the AP website says.
What AP doesn’t say is that China News Service is controlled by the Chinese government and its governing Communist Party.
The AP article carries a disclaimer stating, “The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content.”
The Washington Free Beacon has previously exposed this relationship with articles such as “The AP’s Climate Coverage Is Funded by Left-Wing Groups—And It Shows” and “AP Quietly Reveals Donation From Foreign Group That Trains Journalists as Climate Change ‘Activists.’”
I wrote about it in the Wall Street Journal in 2025: “Following the Money, the Associated Press Moves Left.” This latest AP article fits the pattern.
The first quote in the AP article says, “‘China’s approach to energy sector development and geopolitics has been completely validated by the Iran conflict,’ said Sam Reynolds with the U.S.-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.”
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis is funded by the same left-wing foundations that fund the AP.
For example, the Hewlett Foundation gave $200,000 to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis in 2025 and $750,000 to the AP’s climate desk in October 2024 for a 24-month grant.
A member of the board of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis is Sarah Brennan, who works at the Rockefeller Family Fund on the Funder Collaborative on Oil & Gas.
The Rockefeller Family Fund gave $347,250 to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis in 2024, according to the Rockefeller Family Fund tax return, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund gave the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis $570,000 in 2025.
The AP website lists “The Rockefeller Foundation” as a current funder.
There are lots of Rockefellers, and the Brothers Fund, the Foundation, and Family Fund are distinct entities, but the heirs of John D. Rockefeller, founder of what is now ExxonMobil, have been outspoken against fossil fuels.
“Supporting the AP’s climate desk dovetails with The Rockefeller Foundation’s recognition of climate change as a singular threat to humanity,” the Rockefeller Foundation website says.
The Rockefeller Foundation 2024 tax return listed a $250,000 grant to the AP in 2023 “in support of launching a climate coverage initiative.”
Read rest at Free Beacon
