The environmentalist movement. There is a clear trade off between environmental and industrial success, humans don't know how to do both.

https://aqicn.org/map/world - US is generally green and yellow, China tends to dip into the oranges and reds, especially in the industrial zone. It is tightly linked to the fact that China has a powerful electricity grid.

is a powerful electricity grid bad for the environment? is the environment worth sacrificing to make the numbers go up? do you want oxygen bottles to be a subscription service?

Yes, yes, no. Nobody has figured out how to run a powerful grid without eating a lot of environmental damage. That is a significant factor in the article headline of "The U.S. grid is so weak, the race may already be over".