The loss of America’s energy independence has unsurprisingly come with consequences. The most obvious to consumers is the increased pain at the pump. However, there is one consequence that is less apparent but is no less important. Biden’s disastrous energy policies are not just weakening America, they are directly emboldening one of our nation’s greatest adversaries: China.
One of the key components of Joe Biden’s Green New Deal agenda is the push for electric vehicle (EV) production. Aside from the steep price that prohibits many Americans from the luxury of purchasing an EV, Biden’s rush to green overlooked what was needed of the U.S. supply chain to successfully implement his proposal. In turn, the United States is forced to rely on China to meet the president’s climate goals.
Electric vehicles need batteries and batteries require critical minerals. While we may know what minerals to look for and often where to look, it takes ten years to permit a mine in the U.S. with Biden’s current approval process. For this reason, the U.S. remains 100 percent dependent on imports for 17 key mineral resources and 50 percent dependent on imports for another 29 mineral commodities from China, though most are available right here at home.
Instead of implementing policy to strengthen the U.S. supply chain and support our domestic producers, the Biden Administration further weakened our country’s ability to utilize our own critical mineral supply. The administration canceled two federal leases to mine in Minnesota, which could have provided enough nickel to manufacture over 200 million electric vehicles and enough cobalt to manufacture 42 million. They also reimplemented heavy regulations on our producers under the National Environmental Policy Act of which even environmental groups have found issue.
