Lack of U.S. critical minerals development means almost total reliance on China for EV parts, creating national security and environmental risks while hurting consumers
WASHINGTON – Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), the leading energy and environmental advocate for families and businesses, issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule to regulate passenger car tailpipe emissions so stringently that it will force two-thirds of all cars in the U.S. to be electric by 2030. It is attributable to CEA Vice President Kaitlin Hammons.
“This proposed rule flies in the face of everything America stands for in terms of democracy and open markets. It’s a policy that borrows the worst from Soviet-era central planning and Enron-style book-cooking to victimize nearly all our families and businesses by artificially increasing the price of personal transportation and forcing Americans to play along.”
“Consider this: The electrification of the vehicle fleet will require up to 40% of all the current electricity in the U.S. That will only drive bills higher, further increasing the cost of raising a family or running a business – permanently. It will also significantly increase the likelihood of prolonged blackouts on days with extreme weather.”
“It is high time we stopped letting extreme activists fundamentally alter the fabric of America with policies designed solely to provide taxpayer-funded subsidies to their elitist allies, in the name of reaching goals they know are unreachable. Even worse, proposals like this trade one purported environmental benefit for a host of environmental and economic harms.
“The only beneficiary of this proposal is China. At a time when China dominates the global supply of minerals that go into EVs, like cobalt, lithium and copper, our Administration is continuing to restrict America’s ability to mine these same minerals. This proposal significantly degrades our national security, making us reliant on the world’s biggest polluter. It’s a bad deal that merits a consumer recall.”
“We simply don’t have the required minerals or the electricity necessary to electrify the entire U.S. vehicle fleet. Meanwhile, the federal government continues to limit our ability to meet our overall energy needs with American energy, opting to hand that economic benefit to OPEC.”
“These bad ideas end up in Washington by way of California, where bad energy and environmental policies that collapsed under the weight of their own uselessness live to die another day. The Administration is trying to bring in the back door of the EPA what it cannot pass as a law in Congress. Somewhere Chinese leadership is smiling.”
About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading voice for sensible energy and environmental policies for consumers, bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide, we are committed to leading the nation’s dialogue around energy, its critical role in the economy, and how it supports the vital supply chains for the families and businesses that depend on them. CEA works daily to encourage communities across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our nation’s energy needs.
