Voters Support Using the Defense Production Act to Accelerate Clean Energy Production
By Danielle Deiseroth and Ahmad Ali
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting shocks to global energy markets have illuminated the urgency of transitioning to clean energy. Accelerating this transition will require a concerted effort on behalf of the federal government to lower the cost and effort of procuring materials and increase the scale of American manufacturing of clean energy components — namely batteries for electric vehicles.
The Defense Production Act was signed into law by President Harry Truman seven decades ago in an effort to reprioritize the supply of critical materials and components during the Korean War. The Intercept reported last week the Biden Administration might consider invoking the Defense Production Act to provide a special designation for minerals required for battery production like nickel, graphite, lithium, cobalt, and manganese. The designation could “help mining companies access government funding for feasibility studies on mining development, productivity and safety improvements, or on how to wring more of these metals out of ore already produced at facilities operating in the U.S.”
In a March 2022 national survey, Data for Progress asked likely voters whether President Biden should employ the Defense Production Act in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We find that two-thirds of all voters (66 percent) support using the Defense Production Act to boost the production of components necessary for clean energy technologies. An overwhelming majority of Democrats (81 percent), two-thirds of Independents (66 percent), and a plurality of Republicans (49 percent) support President Biden using the Defense Production Act to help decrease global dependence on Russian energy and accelerate clean energy production.
By rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels, both the United States and our European allies can decrease the global demand for Russian oil and gas. With widespread bipartisan support, President Biden and lawmakers in Congress should act swiftly to utilize the Defense Production Act to bolster the production of clean energy technologies such as batteries for electric vehicles.
Danielle Deiseroth (@danielledeis) is the Lead Climate Strategist at Data for Progress.
Ahmad Ali (@RealAhmadAli) is the Press Secretary at Data for Progress.