But volume is important in bringing down costs. Producing critical minerals for car batteries and utility-scale battery storage is a way of ensuring a robust supply for American troops without having to be propped up entirely by the Pentagon.
“It’s going to be more expensive if we are relying exclusively on defense,” said Abigail Hunter, executive director of the Center for Critical Mineral Strategy at SAFE, an energy security think tank.
Some energy executives have drawn confidence from the fact that most clean-energy manufacturing investments are being made in conservative states, and a small coalition of Republicans have argued that scrapping demand incentives could lead to the waste of money already spent supporting supply.
Read the full article: “Clean Energy Was Lifting Manufacturing. Now Investment Is in Jeopardy.”
