President Joe Biden has made the decision recently to invoke the Defense Production Act in order to endorse the domestic production of minerals that would be needed to create batteries for the purpose of powering electric vehicles. This plan would enable America to become much less reliant on foreign supply chains.
"The President will issue a directive, authorizing the use of the Defense Production Act to secure American production of critical materials to bolster our clean energy economy by reducing our reliance on China and other countries for the minerals and materials that will power our clean energy future," the White House said in a statement Thursday. These materials include nickel, lithium, cobalt, graphite, and manganese, according to a White House fact sheet.
One of the driving reasons behind the making of this order is that Biden is responding to quickly rising gas prices and supply chain problems that have been brought about by the Russia's war with Ukraine. It is one aspect of Biden's plan in dealing with what is commonly referred to as "Putin's Price Hike." On average, Americans are paying $4.225 of gas per gallon, in comparison to the average gas price of $2.859 per gallon one year ago, according to data from the American Automobile Association.
In addition to attempting to combat steadily rising gas prices, the Defense Production Act will focus on Biden's ultimate objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, so as to obtain entirely clean energy by the year 2035. According to the White House, the Department of Defense will utilize "strong environmental, labor, community, and tribal consultation standards."
Although it is still uncertain as to exactly how the Defense Production Act will be used, it is highly probable that companies involving battery equipment and manufacturing will experience a change for the better. For instance, batteries that have been created with materials such as lithium or nickel are able to fuel electric vehicles as well as store wind or solar energy.
"The clean energy transition cannot be built on dirty mining. Expanding mining without addressing the shortcomings of our archaic mining laws would be disastrous," Lauren Pagel, policy director of the nonprofit organization Earthworks, said in a press statement.