The World Trade Organization ruled against India's ambitious solar power program this week in response to a complaint brought by the United States.  India's solar plan - which seeks to install 100 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2022 - requires a certain percentage of cells and panels to be manufactured locally.

These provisions, called domestic content requirements, are usually prohibited under most trade agreements overseen by the WTO.  Washington cried, "Protectionism!" - and complained that Solar Mission's domestic content requirements have led to a 90 percent decrease in US solar exports to India since 2011.  US solar producers, which stand to profit, are pretty happy:

"This decision helps us bring clean energy to the people of India, as that nation’s demand for electricity rapidly grows," said spokesman Dan Whitten  of the US trade group Solar Energy Industries Association.

Of course, the domestic content requirements would have meant that an essentially developing economy like India was able to pull itself up by its own bootstraps, rather than continue dependence on the big powers.  Around 300 million Indians still don't have access to electricity. The Solar Mission to generate 100 GW of Solar PV power by 2022 would have India producing power for these multitudes while creating jobs.

Environmentalists are angry that just a few weeks after both nations' leaders went to Paris to sign the COP21 climate accord, trade once against trumps green.

"Trade policies are preventing a sustainable future," said Sam Cossar-Gilbert of Friends of the Earth International.  "The ink is barely dry on the UN Paris Climate Agreement, but clearly trade still trumps real action on climate change,”" he added.