A report released Thursday by the Heritage Foundation said Democrats' sweeping green energy policies would force the United States into reliance on raw materials monopolized by China, putting the U.S. at a strategic and economic disadvantage.
The Biden-Harris administration has used billions of taxpayer dollars and aggressive regulations to move the U.S. away from fossil fuels and instead embrace green energy as the primary source of power for the economy — a strategy that favors China, given its dominant position in the supply chains of raw materials and materials needed to produce wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles (EVs), according to the Heritage Foundation. Report The report urges policymakers to leverage the country's vast mineral and fossil fuel reserves to lower domestic energy costs, provide cheap energy to allies, and quickly pivot away from growing reliance on China.
“By utilizing the WTO mechanisms, [World Trade Organization]plagiarism or embezzlement [intellectual property] “China has succeeded in dominating the global supply chain of green energy products and components by sourcing them from foreign companies and acquiring them with government-sponsored funds,” said the report, written by Diana Furchtgott-Roth and Myles Pollard of the Heritage Foundation. “If the United States continues to mandate the use of these green energy products, it will cede economic power to China and its control over U.S. energy security.” (Related: Biden administration's energy policies put Americans at greater risk in potential war with China, analysis finds)
China is rapidly expanding its surveillance capabilities in America's backyard, report findshttps://t.co/TKzt3hgyCF
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The Inflation Control Act (IRA), passed by the Senate in 2022 with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris, included hundreds of billions of dollars to subsidize green technologies like wind, solar and EVs. But the report warns that trying to subsidize U.S. green technologies to compete with Chinese companies that benefit from China's heavy government subsidies and unfair trade practices is a losing battle.
The authors urge U.S. policymakers to “refuse to join an unwinnable subsidy war and eliminate all environmental tax subsidies and credits.” This would allow American consumers to “make more rational choices about energy forms, cars, and appliances” while “[reducing] It gives them incentives to invest in green industries rather than America's rich hydrocarbon and power-dense nuclear industries.”
Another domestic solution proposed by the report is to issue permits more efficiently and frequently to companies seeking to develop mines and other projects that extract critical minerals in the United States. The report cites Bureau of Land Management (BLM) data showing that both applications and approvals for new mining projects have plummeted in recent years. In 2011, there were 72 applications in progress and 32 approved mines; by 2022, those numbers will fall to 14 and 6, respectively.
The Biden-Harris Administration has also halted or suspended numerous domestic mining projects, including the Pebble Mine in Alaska and the Twin Metals Mine in Minnesota. Because these developments could ostensibly help the U.S. source critical minerals domestically and reduce reliance on supplies from China, the Administration's efforts to keep some of these critical projects from operating would likely be contrary to the national interest, the Heritage report argues.
Meanwhile, the report said Chinese companies will account for about 85% of global battery production in 2023 and will dominate the production of key battery components. Moreover, Chinese companies will produce two out of every three electric vehicles built in 2023, according to data from the International Council on Clean Transportation cited in the Heritage report.
China similarly dominates the production of solar modules, cells and wafers as of 2021, and Chinese companies also account for about 66% of the global market for wind turbines, according to the Heritage report. (Related: China is waging 'increasingly bold' influence operations in the U.S. and abroad, government report warns)
China outdoes U.S. solar panel makers despite Biden administration subsidies and tariffshttps://t.co/O3WnhJ0l1P
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Pollard and Furchtgott-Roth argue that the United States can get back on track by not only eliminating counterproductive environmental subsidies and freeing up domestic mining projects with simplified permitting and deregulation, but also by deliberately working to improve commercial relations with resource-rich countries in Africa and South America, placing special emphasis on Chinese companies perceived to pose national and economic security risks, and using tariffs to “get tough” on Chinese efforts to dominate critical U.S. industries.
Additionally, the two authors argue that the United States should use its influence at the WTO to ensure that China's “developing country” status is updated to reflect its actual, more advanced level of economic development. Among other benefits, the report says, “developing country” status has helped China undercut Western competitors with cheaper products while circumventing commitments to protect and respect U.S. intellectual property.
“While China is not forcing America to buy its products, America is increasing its reliance on China by choosing to use federal and state regulations to mandate the use of renewable energy and electric vehicles in the U.S. and across states, which will result in fewer jobs for American workers and more jobs for Chinese workers,” the Heritage report states. “US economic growth will slow because green energy is more expensive than oil, gas, coal, and nuclear power. Because China is not an ally of the U.S., this will come at the expense of U.S. national security interests. Therefore, relying on China for significant parts of the U.S. economy is unwise.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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