The international repercussions could be severe if the U.S. doesn't take serious steps towards energy independence, warned Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, in an interview Thursday with Atlantic Media Political Director Ronald Brownstein.

Although Kerry warned in the interview that offshore drilling and other provisions might not make the final cut in a climate change bill, he nevertheless emphasized the importance of domestic drilling.

"It absolutely pays for the United States to do that in our waters, where the revenues come to our states, where the jobs are created here," he said. "And we're not sending $400 billion a year to the Middle East or somewhere else, to many countries where much of that money winds up in the hands of Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamist Jihad or wherever."

Kerry also warned of the steep competition the U.S. faces in the global race to develop renewable energies. China, he said, is adamantly determined to "not just reduce its energy intensity but to lead the world in" renewables such as wind and solar.

Of the top 30 renewable energy companies in the world, only five are located in the U.S., Kerry said. "We discovered those technologies," he said. But since then, he argued, other nations have done a better job of developing and capitalizing on them. "We've lost hundreds of thousands of jobs as a consequence," he lamented.

The recent joint venture among Chinese and American companies to build a $1.5 billion wind farm in Texas -- financed largely by Chinese banks -- is just one of the latest examples showing China pulling ahead in the renewables race. The farm will be the first time a Chinese manufacturer exports wind turbines to the U.S.

"I believe that we must recognize what China is doing. They've tripled their wind power goals," Kerry said. "They've set out to be the world's number one electric car producer. They have put in place stricter automobile standards sooner than we have."

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