The Biden administration today announced a number of new investments in the domestic production of critical minerals and materials necessary to build the nation’s clean energy supply chain. The funding includes efforts to access important elements such as lithium and cobalt, which are used in batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels. A June 2021 report from the administration found an over-reliance on foreign sources for these and other materials.

In response to today’s announcement, the BlueGreen Alliance released the following statement from Executive Director Jason Walsh:

“The United States relies on other countries—in many cases economic rivals or nations with shockingly poor environmental and labor conditions—to access many of the critical minerals and materials we need to drive the clean economy. That needs to change.

“We need strategies to create jobs in America, generate a clean, more secure, and sustainable energy supply chain, and elevate the United States as a global leader in the industry. The investments announced today will put us on the path to environmentally, economically, and socially responsible mining, reclamation, and recycling of these minerals and materials.”