Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri on Thursday questioned a top Department of Energy(DOE) official about whether a Biden electric vehicle (EV) policy that benefits China was “good” for the U.S.
Hawley grilled Deputy Secretary of Energy David M. Turk during a hearing by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee about which countries benefited from the Biden administration’s push for EVs. The Biden administration proposed regulations in April that would require as many as two-thirds of new light-duty vehicles sold in the United States to be EVs after 2032.
“Let’s talk a little bit about who’s really benefitting from this administration’s climate agenda and these draconian electric vehicle mandates,” Hawley said. “So, Mr. Turk, you’ve already alluded to this, I know you already know the answer to these questions. Currently, one nation accounts for 60% of the world’s election vehicle production, and that nation is…”
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“China,” Turk responded. Hawley then asked if Turk knew which country produced over three-fourths of the world’s lithium-ion batteries. “China,” Turk responded again.
President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which spends $370 billion to combat climate change and is loaded with green energy provisions, including a $7,500 tax credit for EVs, into law in August 2022. EV sales have not grown as fast as manufacturers have hoped, despite the tax credit and other subsidies provided by the Biden administration.
“Yet your administration, this president’s administration, the mandates you put in place require that two-thirds of our new vehicle sales in just the next eight years – two-thirds of them – be electric vehicles,” Hawley said. “Your policies are driving us and our supply chains into the hands of our greatest geo-strategic enemy, enriching them, enriching their government, while forcing Americans to pay for electric vehicles that are, on average, cost $7,000 more on average, than a traditional vehicle, that are more expensive to repair and insure, require more frequent replacements of everything from tires to component parts.”
China controls large swaths of EV manufacturing, including more than half of the world’s lithium refining capacity, 60% of battery cathode production, 75% of global battery cell production and 75% of battery anode production. China also controls more than three-fourths of cobalt mine output in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has 70% of the world’s cobalt supply, the Diplomat reported.
“So, Mr. Turk, why is it good for the American worker that we force our supply chains to a country that is our greatest rival and adversary?” Hawley asked.
Harold Hutchison on January 11, 2024
