Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) hit out at the Biden administration’s recently announced multibillion-dollar green energy grants, accusing the government of prioritizing the green agenda over American citizens.
The grants will end up benefiting “leftwing special interests,” she said. In addition, the Biden administration has not yet explained how these funds will not benefit China, which dominates the supply chain of the renewables industry, the GOP lawmaker stated.
The $20 billion comes from the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) created under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Out of the $20 billion, three entities will receive funds under the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund and five will receive funds from the $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator.
The EPA claims that the fund recipients will “reduce or avoid up to 40 million metric tons of climate pollution per year.”
For every $1 in federal funds received, the eight grant recipients will mobilize almost $7 from private capital, the agency claimed.
More than $14 billion of the $20 billion, or 70 percent of the grants, will go toward “low-income and disadvantaged communities,” the EPA said.
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan claimed that the fund recipients will “unleash tens of thousands of clean technology projects like putting solar on small businesses, electrifying affordable housing, providing EV loans for young families, and countless others.”
Benefiting China
A key issue for GOP lawmakers is how the funds will benefit China, which “controls the components needed for renewable energy.“By mandating technologies that are fully dependent on resources from China, the President is taking taxpayer dollars and using them to line the pockets of one of our greatest adversaries,” they argued.
“China controls the critical minerals supply chain, accounting for roughly 60 percent of the world’s production of rare earth minerals and materials. Nearly half of the U.S. solar panel market share is controlled by China.”
When asked during a committee hearing whether the EPA could guarantee none of the GGRF funds would go to China, an official from the agency refused to give a clear answer, stating that it was “a little more complicated” than a yes or no, the post stated.
Republicans note that the EPA isn’t “well-equipped” to efficiently disburse $27 billion in funds, which the agency is required to do by September 2024.
‘Cronyism and Conflicts’ in EPA Grants
Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT), an NGO that had earlier warned that the GGRF has “massive potential for cronyism and conflicts,” called the EPA’s $20 billion grant announcement their “worst fears” coming true.One of the fund recipients is the Coalition for Green Capital, which receives $5 billion of the $20 billion EPA allocation. PPT pointed out that David Hayes, “who reportedly ‘assisted in developing and implementing climate-related provisions of the IRA [Inflation Reduction Act]’” serves on the board of Coalition for Green Capital.
Power Forward Communities, which receives $2 billion, has links with Arabella Advisors, “which reportedly spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help elect Joe Biden,” PPT stated. The group is formed by a coalition of five investment groups, including Rewiring America.
“Rewiring America also has numerous former operatives from the Democratic Party and left-leaning special interest groups, such as NARAL [National Abortion Rights Action League], MoveOn.org, and Media Matters for America, and features perennial Democratic candidate for Georgia governor, Stacy Abrams, on its staff,” PPT stated.
Climate United Fund, which has been allocated $6.97 billion, “has extensive connections to nationwide Democrats, including the former chair of the CA Democratic Party, along with several former Clinton and Obama appointees.”
“Additionally, wind and solar generation are located where the resource availability is best instead of where is most convenient for people and infrastructure since their ‘fuel’ can’t be transported like fossil fuels,” it said.
Demand for EV batteries requires more mining of metals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and rare earth elements, all of which contribute to considerable emissions and pollution.
