*The Democrats’ huge climate spending bill was signed by President Joe Biden Tuesday. While it may help China to increase its green energy production, it will not reduce carbon emissions.
The $369 billion package will rapidly accelerate the development and usage of solar, wind and battery power. However, it is likely that a significant portion of green energy manufacturing will take place in China, the world’s top carbon emitter, where fossil fuels are a main source of energy, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). (RELATED: Here’s How China Could See A Massive Windfall From Dems’ Big Spending Bill)
“It’s a deeply flawed and not fully thought-through plan,” Mark Mills, energy and tech expert at the Manhattan Institute, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Batteries, solar panels, and other forms of renewable energy require large quantities cobalt and nickel as well as manganese and graphite. However, China, a nation that is considered an “entity of concern,” has a stranglehold on both the global supply and refinement of these minerals, according to a 2021 International Energy Agency report. Mills stated that the other aspect of this picture is being overlooked. “The pursuit of more minerals by the world or China will cause the mineral prices to rise to record levels.” “That will impact the costs of building not just wind/solar/battery machines, but everything else made from the same minerals, such as copper and nickel.”
China, which uses coal as a primary energy source, produces 80% of the world’s solar panels and 77% of lithium-ion batteries. Coal, which accounted for 58% of China’s energy production in 2019, emits about twice the amount of greenhouse gases as natural gas, an energy source that is commonly used in the U.S.
Workers are seen at the production line of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EV) at a factory in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, China August 28, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer. IMAGE PROVIDED BY THIRD PARTY.
“The bill is doing more to help China’s economy than America’s,” Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprises Institute, told the DCNF.
. The tax credits and the reductions included in this bill were intended to improve domestic supply chains of green energy. However, the Biden administration continues to obstruct mining projects that would help its ambitious energy transition such as lithium mining in Nevada and nickel, cobalt and copper mining in Minnesota.
“There is no way for the U.S. of expanding domestic mining and refining quickly enough to challenge Chinese dominance in near future.” Mills said. *The White House didn’t immediately reply to the DCNF’s request for comment. *All content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation can be accessed free of charge by any news publication that is eligible and has a wide audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
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