Staff Reports
Senator Joe Manchin from the great state of West Virginia laid the smackdown on the Biden administration’s electric vehicle (EV) policies during a Senate committee hearing. The senator made it crystal clear that he isn’t against EVs, but rather against the Biden administration pushing their EV agenda without regard for the law. Manchin took aim at the administration’s plan to slash the requirement for U.S.-sourced critical minerals in EV batteries by half, which he believes will only increase America’s reliance on China for EV supply chains.
According to Manchin, the Inflation Reduction Act mandates that 50% of critical minerals in EV batteries must come from the United States or a country with a free trade agreement with the U.S. But the Biden administration wants to lower this requirement, which Senator Manchin says is a total slap in the face to the Inflation Reduction Act. He accused the administration of trying to weasel their way out of the law by proposing “phony” free trade agreements with countries like Indonesia, which Manchin argues is essentially under China’s thumb.
Biden ‘breaking the law’ makes Manchin angrier than EV push https://t.co/4LNL22pcbI via @dcexaminer
Do something about it!
— Gene Pavlova (@GenePavlova) January 12, 2024
Manchin didn’t stop there. He also called out the administration for seeming clueless about the very law they’re trying to undermine. And in case some folks think he’s just on a personal vendetta against EVs, the senator clarified that he just wants things done right, without going off half-cocked.
This isn’t the first time the Biden administration’s green energy plans have hit a roadblock. In fact, it seems like every time they turn around, another one of their grand ideas gets a major reality check from Congress. The House even passed a resolution condemning the administration’s decision to bypass “Buy America” requirements for electric chargers, and the Senate did the same thing back in November.
In a nutshell, the Biden administration’s push for EVs has hit some serious speed bumps. It turns out, the U.S. is having a tough time getting its hands on the necessary materials to make all these fancy electric cars. And to make matters worse, there just aren’t enough electric vehicle chargers out there to meet the administration’s lofty 2030 EV sales goals.
And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Congress is giving the Biden administration major side-eye over their green energy plans. The House dished out a bill to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing emissions standards for certain vehicles. And there’s another bill dancing around the House about boosting electric vehicle sales, but it’s going absolutely nowhere fast.
The bottom line? The Biden administration’s green energy dreams are turning into an absolute nightmare. Even electric vehicle charging companies are feeling the heat, with customers getting cold feet over the high costs and long wait times for their electric cars. It’s like a never-ending cycle of needing more electric vehicle chargers to sell more cars, but not being able to make any money off those chargers until more people actually buy the cars. It’s the kind of mess you’d expect to see in a comedy sketch, but unfortunately, it’s just another day in the Biden administration’s uphill battle for greener pastures.
