As he campaigns for the U.S. Senate, Oklahoma Congressman Markwayne Mullin continues with his criticism of the Biden administration’s energy policies.
In his latest column, the Republican Representative said it’s no surprise the loss of the nation’s energy independence has come with consequences and the most obvious to consumers is sthe increased pain at the pump.
Here’s what the Representative wrote this week:
The loss of America’s energy independence has unsurprisingly come with consequences. The most obvious to consumers is the increased pain at the pump. However, there is one consequence that is less apparent but is no less important. Biden’s disastrous energy policies are not just weakening America, they are directly emboldening one of our nation’s greatest adversaries: China.
One of the key components of Joe Biden’s Green New Deal agenda is the push for electric vehicle (EV) production. Aside from the steep price that prohibits many Americans from the luxury of purchasing an EV, Biden’s rush to green overlooked what was needed of the U.S. supply chain to successfully implement his proposal. In turn, the United States is forced to rely on China to meet the president’s climate goals.
Electric vehicles need batteries and batteries require critical minerals. While we may know what minerals to look for and often where to look, it takes ten years to permit a mine in the U.S. with Biden’s current approval process. For this reason, the U.S. remains 100 percent dependent on imports for 17 key mineral resources and 50 percent dependent on imports for another 29 mineral commodities from China, though most are available right here at home.
Instead of implementing policy to strengthen the U.S. supply chain and support our domestic producers, the Biden Administration further weakened our country’s ability to utilize our own critical mineral supply. The administration canceled two federal leases to mine in Minnesota, which could have provided enough nickel to manufacture over 200 million electric vehicles and enough cobalt to manufacture 42 million. They also reimplemented heavy regulations on our producers under the National Environmental Policy Act of which even environmental groups have found issue.
It doesn’t stop there. Biden’s subsequent solar panel push has backed our country into the same corner. Eighty percent of solar panels are made in China, whose Xinjiang region’s solar energy technology sector has been linked to forced labor. Despite this fact, Biden recently announced the move to waive tariffs on their solar panel imports in the name of clean energy supply. These tariffs were previously established by President Trump in response to their abhorrent labor practices and lack of environmental standards. This decision emboldens China’s human rights abuses but also allows for China to dominate the American industry due to their access to critical minerals and our country’s increased need for this resource.
And with all of that, recent reports that Biden Administration sent five million barrels worth of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to China should come as no surprise. Biden has been continuously depleting our supply to appear as if he is taking action to curb the cost of gas without detouring from his climate agenda. The issue here isn’t Biden’s decision to partake in the global market. It’s his inability to increase oil supply in favor of using the reserves. Our refineries are at max utilization, there is no reason for him to touch our reserves. His motivations for his climate agenda have put our country last at every turn.
Our president is emboldening our adversary in exchange for dirtier energy practices, in both environmental and moral regards. Biden has forced our country into reliance on Chinese goods when goods manufactured in the United States are 40 percent more carbon-efficient than the world average. It will be hard for him to shift blame out of this one. While his messaging agenda panders to the far-Left elites, his America Last policies are creating real consequences for our country.