Clean Energy’s Dirty Little China Secret

 Key Takeaways

• The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $200 million grant to electric vehicle battery manufacturer Microvast as part of its effort to promote green energy. The myopic pursuit of cheap renewable energy sources is clearly more important to the administration than preventing American taxpayer dollars from going to the PRC, which will pocket them while simultaneously cornering an energy sector on which the United States may well become dependent, as Microvast may well be just the tip of this iceberg. If companies like Microvast wish to receive U.S. government contracts and subsidies, they should divest Chinese entanglements and submit a clean bill of health to the Energy Department before they receive the funding. If the Department of Energy cannot do this on its own initiative, as appears to be the case, Congress should require it to certify that no recipients of grants or subsidies have any ties to the PRC. >>> Free Economies Are Clean Without Subsidizing Renewables. Microvast may well be just a minor actor in a massive Chinese operation to both subvert these funds and control the renewable energy sources the Biden administration is determined to impose on the United States, in effect transforming America from a global energy superpower into a supplicant to the PRC. Indeed, the whole premise that the nation must switch over to less reliable renewable energy to combat climate change should now be called into question. Bringing fusion to the scale necessary for it to be a significant clean energy source will take decades. Such a strategy could continue to lower emissions, allow us to retain energy reliability, and avoid leaving our energy security at the mercy of the PRC and its subsidiaries, starting with Microvast.

https://www.heritage.org/energy-economics/commentary/clean-energys-dirty-little-china-secret