Recent media coverage of rising gas prices reflects something more consequential than concern for energy affordability. It reveals a pattern of selective outrage and one meant to condition the American public to view any temporary cost associated with national security as politically unacceptable — especially under a Republican administration. This dynamic carries strategic consequences. It erodes trust, weakens institutional resilience, and reduces our country’s capacity to absorb short-term strain in pursuit of long-term stability.
During the Biden administration, gasoline prices <a href="https://www.wbur.org/npr/1084893419/gas-prices-surge-to-above-4-a-gallon-oil-russia-ukraine-antony-blinken">reached</a> historic and unsustainable levels, surpassing $5.00 per gallon in many parts of the country as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted global energy markets. The media’s coverage at the time was extensive, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/09/us/politics/fact-check-republicans-biden-gas.html">but they refused to blame then-President Biden</a> for foolishly tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in November 2021 ahead of the war. The dominant narrative emphasized structural forces, including global commodity markets, supply chain disruptions, and post-pandemic demand recovery outpacing supply. It was the former president’s climate policies, however, that inevitably invited energy insecurity.
Those explanations reflected the realities of energy economics. Energy markets respond to geopolitical shocks, and price volatility often follows disruptions to supply and transportation infrastructure. Public messaging from legacy media during that period <a href="https://time.com/6188569/gas-prices-oil/">emphasized patience while markets stabilized</a>.
Current coverage reflects a very different emphasis: It’s panicked, grim, and chaotic. The narrative is intended to guilt developed nations into <a href="https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-wars-renewable-energy-asia-4b5fe0693ce5816472c905db85f7da6e">abandoning</a> “warmongering” oil and gas for “<a href="https://time.com/7358460/renewable-energy-peace-democracy-venezuela/">peaceful</a>” renewable energy to fight a so-called climate crisis, despite much of the world now <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/magazine/climate-politics-us-world-paris-agreement.html">prioritizing</a> energy security. The United Nations claims wind and solar energy, unlike oil and gas, will withstand closures in the Strait of Hormuz. Much to the UN’s chagrin, energy-importing nations that have adopted 100% renewable energy targets are planning to purchase <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-19/after-qatar-lng-plant-outage-more-buyers-turn-to-us-suppliers">American liquefied natural gas (LNG)</a> or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/business/iran-war-lng-asia-japan.html">pivot back to coal</a> after Qatar’s LNG terminal closed down.
Price volatility is frequently presented as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/us/politics/gas-prices-republicans-affordability.html">evidence of policy failure</a> rather than as a predictable consequence of geopolitical risk. Rather than putting the temporary economic pressure as something that deserves perspective and patience, it is portrayed as a political liability that must be eliminated immediately. This framing amplifies anxiety while obscuring the strategic rationale behind national security decisions and the long-term expectation that energy prices will soon come back down. This isn’t 2022, with an administration that deliberately suppressed domestic energy production. The landscape is vastly different, and arguably more secure, with American energy dominance keeping prices relatively low here at home and coming to the rescue abroad.
That shift in emphasis by the media shapes public perception over time.
Research on public opinion during military operations <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2508.2007.00602.x">demonstrates</a> public support for national security decisions tracks the signals sent by major institutions.
Coverage that focuses primarily on risk, cost, and disruption encourages the public to conclude that action lacks justification. A sustained emphasis on negative consequences and downplaying the purpose and potential upsides contributes to declining confidence in leadership and reduced tolerance for continued engagement.
Over the long term, the media framing weakens our country and the public. A society that interprets every economic disruption as a disaster and evidence of fundamental failure becomes less willing to endure temporary hardship even when the alternative carries greater long-term risk and expense.
Trust declines gradually through accumulated inconsistency.
This erosion of trust carries implications beyond the current moment. A public conditioned to associate short-term economic disruption with failure will resist future decisions that require temporary sacrifice, regardless of the strategic stakes involved.
Public uncertainty about the necessity of current operations reflects an imbalance in how the rationale has been reinforced in public discourse. Policymakers have articulated the objective of degrading the capabilities of a regime that was developing advanced ballistic missile capabilities <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/iran-fires-missiles-remote-uk-us-base-claiming-long-range-capabilities-rcna264547">able to reach long distances</a>, unfettered <a href="https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2025/05/21/9-myths-about-irans-uranium-enrichment-program/?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=23305160353&amp;gbraid=0AAAAADHXS9VYjLIExrfvz9Me63UlMpO7a&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwyYPOBhBxEiwAgpT8P611Ekse1TESk6d_oEGyl9DdHc8HDPOTawrLNLyStN8M33Drkse33BoCfyAQAvD_BwE">nuclear ambitions</a>, arms proxy forces <a href="https://www.cfr.org/articles/irans-regional-armed-network">across multiple theaters</a>, and uses <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/iran-chokes-strait-hormuz-reported-2m-tanker-toll-regime-threatens-global-oil-supply">instability</a> to influence global energy markets.
The strategic logic rests on deterrence. Restoring deterrence imposes short-term costs but reduces the likelihood of sustained instability and higher long-term economic disruption – specifically global energy prices.
Coverage that concentrates on immediate economic consequences without sustained attention to strategic necessity leaves the public with incomplete information. That informational gap encourages apprehension and weakens support for popular actions that serve long-term security interests.
The United States has historically maintained security and prosperity by accepting temporary hardship when the stakes were explained clearly and consistently. Wartime rationing, economic sanctions, and military mobilization all required short-term sacrifice in service of larger objectives.
Public resilience depends on coherent communication from institutions and a shared understanding of the relationship between cost and purpose. That resilience weakens when the information environment frames disruption as avoidable and treats temporary hardship as evidence of failure.
Leadership requires the willingness to act despite short-term discomfort and to explain the reasons for that action clearly. Public resilience requires the willingness to endure temporary strain when the strategic rationale is understood.
Americans facing higher gas prices deserve transparency for what they are being asked to pay and the strategic purpose behind this ask from the media without bias. Clear explanation strengthens trust, supports resilience, and preserves the capacity to act decisively when national security requires it.
* * *
Meaghan Mobbs is director of Independent Women’s Center for American Safety and Security.
Gabriella Hoffman is director of Independent Women’s Center for Energy and Conservation.

California Gas Prices

Two Hits At The Pump — And What The Media Wants You To Forget

Affordable

Climate Change

Coal

Energy

Joe Biden

Oil and Gas

Opinion

Solar Power

The security of America’s power grid is under threat from the Chinese Communist Party and other foreign regimes who are pre-positioning energy devices they can sabotage from afar. Rapid state government action is needed to remove these technological threats that are already embedded in our electrical grid.
A <a href="https://www.striderintel.com/newsroom/strider-u-s-power-grid-exposed-to-unprecedented-risk-from-prc-made-equipment/">new report</a> from Strider Intelligence revealed that solar inverters feeding electricity into the U.S. power grid are overwhelmingly manufactured by Chinese companies tied to Beijing’s government and military. These devices are connected to the same networks that power America’s hospitals and defense installations, keep communications and water systems running, drive manufacturing and transportation, underpin the financial sector, and enable emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing.
The Chinese inverters are present at a scale far larger than previously understood. Nearly every utility surveyed by Strider, representing roughly 12% of national electricity generation, relies on Chinese inverters.
As Strider warns, without decisive intervention, “the Chinese government, through its control over [government-linked] firms and data networks, could exploit this access to manipulate or disrupt the U.S. grid in a crisis.” Because these inverters occupy critical control points and can be controlled remotely, they give Beijing a degree of proximity no foreign adversary should ever possess inside American infrastructure.
These vulnerabilities did not appear overnight. They grew out of decades of accelerated “green” energy expansion, during which time solar became the dominant source of new electricity across America. Much of the solar hardware came from companies with direct links to Chinese intelligence and military. Security concerns were ignored in the rush to scale renewables, resulting in American tax incentives and utility fees funding Chinese sabotage devices.
This outcome is in part the product of a successful CCP influence operation. China has long waged an insidious campaign to promote the “green” energy agenda to make the United States more dependent on their products. Research from State Armor revealed that <a href="https://statearmor.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/State-Armor-Who-is-Energy-Foundation-China-Report.pdf">Energy Foundation China</a>, a nonprofit supervised by the Chinese Communist Party, has quietly pushed tens of millions per year into U.S. universities and advocacy groups to push policies that deepen America’s reliance on Chinese technologies. Industrial ambition paired with political influence secured Beijing’s access to our infrastructure.
While federal action is needed, Washington’s response has been slow, disjointed, and largely blind to the scale of the threat. Many of the vulnerabilities sit in infrastructure overseen by the states. That is where the solutions must begin.
State leaders must completely block adversary-linked companies, nonprofits, and middlemen from critical infrastructure. Texas did so with the <a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/pdf/SB02116I.pdf">2021 Lone Star Critical Infrastructure Protection Act</a>, enacted to prevent a Chinese General from controlling the electrical grid near Laughlin Air Force Base. Entities tied to the CCP have no business inside the systems that power our grid, move our water, carry our data, or keep our transportation networks running.
States should also prohibit the installation of Chinese network-connected technologies that create <a href="https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/118444/witnesses/HHRG-119-HM08-Wstate-GleasonN-20250722.pdf">remote access points and kill switches</a> inside critical systems. Strider’s findings confirm that many inverters and battery systems include built-in communication features that expose the grid to third parties without operator knowledge or consent.
State attorneys general should invoke existing consumer-protection, data-privacy, and deceptive trade practices laws to hold companies liable when they sell equipment that contains malware and kill switches. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-launches-investigation-use-ccp-aligned-tech-products-critical-state">opened an investigation</a> into Chinese Military Company CATL for battery systems that create grid vulnerabilities. <a href="https://ago.nebraska.gov/news/attorney-general-hilgers-sues-lorex-selling-cameras-put-nebraskans-security-risk">Nebraska Attorney General Hilgers</a> and <a href="https://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrelease/attorney-general-james-uthmeier-issues-subpoena-lorex-consumer-protection-data-privacy">Florida Attorney General Uthmeier</a> have launched fraud lawsuits against Chinese camera systems that facilitate espionage and sabotage. Companies should be enjoined from selling dangerous devices, and the dollars recovered through successful fraud claims should go toward replacing insecure Chinese-connected hardware.
States have the authority to act now, long before Congress finishes arguing over what comes next. They can close the backdoors, cut off adversary-linked contractors, and replace the equipment that should never have been allowed into the grid in the first place.
America cannot secure its future while foreign adversaries secure control over our essential systems. China has spent years pre-positioning itself inside U.S. infrastructure through industrial dominance and political influence. The danger is already inside our systems. We can either treat this as the national security threat it is, or concede that our utilities will be regulated by China’s government instead of our own.
* * *
Michael Lucci is the founder, CEO, and Chairman of State Armor, which he created to develop and enact state solutions to global security threats. Follow him at: @Michael7ucci
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.
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Workers Manufacture Solar Panels For Export In Suqian

America’s ‘Green’ Power Grid Has A Red China Problem

Attorney General

China

Espionage

Green New Deal

Spying

Technology

Over the past decade, the climate change movement has morphed into a social and political juggernaut that has weakened and exploited America’s institutions. Its success stemmed from two strengths: it fused science with ideology, creating a quasi-religious fervor — think Just Stop Oil or Extinction Rebellion.
The climate movement also won over the legacy media, which thrives on fear, sensationalism, and a bias toward statism. This alliance resonated with those favoring bigger government and tapped into a primal fear of looming catastrophe — a narrative amplified by widespread ignorance of energy and climate systems. For power-hungry politicians, climate catastrophism became their golden ticket to more influence and control.
Backed by legacy media cheerleaders and an academia dominated by Left-leaning statists, the movement snowballed, especially among the young.  Recent debates and polling shifts suggest some improvement in public understanding, but the damage has been substantial. 
The climate change story, however, rests on shaky scientific and moral ground. The climate has always fluctuated — warming and cooling in cycles — and always will. CO₂, while a greenhouse gas, is a minor player compared to water vapor and solar activity — not the villain it’s painted to be. History shows species thrive in warmer periods and struggle in colder ones.
As Bjorn Lomborg points out, over the past century, climate-related deaths have <a href="https://x.com/BjornLomborg/status/1885310861264199688" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plummeted by 99%,</a> with cold still claiming more lives than heat. The science simply doesn’t support the panic.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Your risk of dying from climate-related disasters dropped 99% since 1920. 
This is because richer societies are much more resilient to disasters 
Read more in my peer-reviewed article: <a href="https://t.co/CC0h7JKIKv">https://t.co/CC0h7JKIKv</a> <a href="https://t.co/hQPpXF2AS2">pic.twitter.com/hQPpXF2AS2</a>
&mdash; Bjorn Lomborg (@BjornLomborg) <a href="https://twitter.com/BjornLomborg/status/1885310861264199688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Morally, it’s worse. Billions of people <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/12-06-2024-progress-on-basic-energy-access-reverses-for-first-time-in-a-decade?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lack access to affordable, reliable energy</a> — a right most Americans enjoy as part of the fortunate one billion. Denying them the cheapest energy sources available, all in pursuit of carbon cuts, is the real injustice. The post-election pivot to prioritize energy access and human well-being over obsessive emissions reductions is a welcome return to reason.
This moral blindness is often cloaked in self-righteous virtue. The climate movement preaches sacrifice while demanding subsidies, mandates, and central planning. It calls for collective responsibility while punishing prosperity. It seeks compliance, not progress; narrative control, not truth. In true Orwellian fashion, freedom becomes pollution, and servitude is sold as sustainability.
The damage wrought by this movement was magnified by the erosion of institutional integrity. In the corporate world, where I operate, our duty is clear: maximize value for investors, as Milton Friedman argued. Property rights demand it. Yet leaders have grown lax, allowing political Trojan horses like ESG and DEI to infiltrate and hijack companies — and their shareholder’s property — for ideological ends. Banks and firms fell in line, abandoning their core mission. The pursuit of shareholder value was replaced with pandering to fashionable causes, often disconnected from performance or accountability.
Academia has suffered similar rot, even my alma mater, the University of Texas. Take the lazy use of terms like “green,” “clean,” and “sustainable” to describe solar and wind energy. Dig into the facts: mining rare earths and manufacturing these technologies are dirty processes, often tied to child labor in Africa, and far from sustainable without heavy subsidies. Describing them as ‘green’ or ‘clean’ is more than misleading, it’s a lie. Our institutions should have been bulwarks against this coercion, but they buckled. The guardians of inquiry and meritocracy became mouthpieces for activist orthodoxy.
The 2024 election and its aftermath signal that we’ve weathered the climate movement’s storm. Now what? At Atlas Energy Solutions, our chairman’s “<a href="https://www.atlas.energy/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Chairmans-Letter-on-ESG.pdf">Who We Are</a>” letter laid it out: we stick to the Friedman Doctrine, building a fortress against political fads and focusing solely on value creation. We’ve aimed to lead by example, and it’s heartening to see others doing the same.
Business and politics don’t mix — nor should academia and politics. Universities owe students free inquiry and critical thinking, not indoctrination. It’s time to purge ideological agendas and revive institutional excellence.
Capitalism — real capitalism — requires moral clarity. It is not a tool of oppression, but a system that rewards value creation and voluntary exchange. The climate agenda, as it stands, undermines both. To restore institutional discipline, we must reaffirm what made this country exceptional: a commitment to liberty, property rights, free markets, and the truth. That’s the only path forward. That’s how we liberate American energy — and the human potential it powers.
* * *
Bud Brigham is an energy entrepreneur from Austin, Texas, and chairman of Brigham Exploration, Brigham Royalties, Langford Energy Partners, and Atlas Energy Solutions (NYSE: AEISI). He is also a founding board member of the American Energy Association, a trade organization representing companies that unabashedly support free markets to liberate American energy.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

High voltage towers at sunset background. Power lines against the sky

It’s Time To Liberate American Energy From Climate Dogma

Academia

Bjorn Lomborg

Democrats

Legacy Media

Minerals

In the debate over energy policy, the term &#8220;all of the above&#8221; has been heralded as a balanced, pragmatic strategy. But in reality, this approach is little more than a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework for energy — one that prioritizes political considerations over performance and efficiency. Just as DEI hiring initiatives emphasize inclusivity over merit-based selection, the &#8220;all of the above&#8221; energy policy forces taxpayers and ratepayers to subsidize inefficient energy sources under the guise of fairness and diversity in energy production.
This misguided philosophy has led to the proliferation of heavily subsidized and unreliable power generation, such as wind and solar, which fail to deliver power when it is needed most. These sources are not chosen based on their ability to provide cheap, reliable energy but rather on their alignment with politically driven mandates and green ideology. Despite the rhetoric of energy independence, the reality is that the expansion of these energy sources has increased our dependence on China for critical materials while simultaneously driving up electricity prices for American consumers. Ironically, while the U.S. is shackling its energy sector with expensive and inefficient mandates, China continues to dominate global energy markets by producing affordable power — largely fueled by coal.
The issue is not just limited to electricity generation. Biofuels, another beneficiary of the &#8220;all of the above&#8221; approach, serve as a prime example of government inefficiency. These fuels make gasoline and diesel more expensive, harm engine performance, and require massive amounts of water to produce. Rather than being an environmentally friendly alternative, biofuels epitomize waste — consuming resources and taxpayer dollars for minimal benefit.
Proponents of tax credits and subsidies argue that they create &#8220;good-paying jobs,&#8221; but this justification rings hollow. The same could be said of nearly any government-funded initiative, including federal bureaucracies that are now being exposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for being inefficient and wasteful. Of course, by this logic, one could also argue that funding for male circumcision programs in Mozambique created &#8220;good-paying jobs&#8221; as well — just not ones that benefit the American workforce. President Trump highlighted this as an example of what he considers &#8220;appalling waste&#8221; in government spending, and yet the same defenders of bloated federal budgets will insist that all taxpayer-funded jobs are inherently valuable. Just because an industry is artificially propped up by government incentives does not mean it is economically viable. True job creation comes from industries that thrive on their own merits — not those that rely on perpetual government handouts.
A recent letter from members of Congress underscores this flawed thinking. It claims that tax credits are essential for energy affordability and national security, yet it ignores the fact that these subsidies distort markets and drive up costs. The argument that these tax incentives were promised for a ten-year period, and therefore should remain untouched, is nothing more than an attempt to lock in bad policy. If a program is wasteful and inefficient, it should be ended — regardless of previous commitments to corporate beneficiaries. The idea that repealing subsidies would cause an energy crisis is a scare tactic used to protect special interests rather than consumers.
True energy dominance does not come from a politically constructed mix of energy sources dictated by government planners. It comes from an energy sector that is free to compete based on cost, efficiency, and reliability. The &#8220;all of the above&#8221; approach is not a strategy — it is a crutch for failing energy policies that depend on taxpayer support to survive. If we are serious about unleashing American energy, we must reject this DEI-style approach and allow the best energy sources to rise based on merit — not mandates.
* * *
The Honorable Jason Isaac is the Founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute, a trade organization that unapologetically champions free markets and American energy. Previously, he served four terms in the Texas House of Representatives.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.
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Oil Set For Biggest Weekly Gain Since Early 2023 On Mideast Risk

Why ‘All Of The Above’ Energy Policies Fail

Why 'All Of The Above' Energy Policies Fail

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Electricity

Michigan state officials plan to clear 420 acres from a state forest to build a new solar farm in the name of environmentalism.
A “top state official” <a href="https://www.mlive.com/environment/2025/01/michigan-plans-to-clear-400-acres-of-state-forest-near-gaylord-for-solar-farm.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmed</a> to MLive that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) planned to bulldoze a large swath of forestland to build a solar farm as part of a lease agreement.
The outlet noted that the DNR “recently assessed 1,200 acres of public trust land in Otsego County near a major power transmission line to decide whether it was suitable for solar arrays” and decided to lease 35% of the land to go with other solar projects that are already being developed.
The sudden desire to destroy trees for solar panels comes as the state risks failing to meet its own climate goal of 100% “clean” energy by 2040. If it doesn’t increase its development of so-called renewable energy, it won’t meet its arbitrary timeframe.
The 420 acres about to be bulldozed are part of 4,000 acres of public land that will be flattened to try and meet the 2040 deadline.
If Michigan instead committed to nuclear power, it could meet its goal much quicker and by using much less land. Chris Martz, a meteorology student who regularly tackles climate change and energy myths, published a chart showing nuclear power produces far more power on less land than solar and wind. For example, 640 acres (about one square mile) for a nuclear power plant would produce 1,000 megawatts of power and can power just over 775,000 homes. Getting the same power from solar panels would require 5,000-7,000 acres of land and only power 193,523 homes. Onshore wind power is even less efficient.
Dr. Judith Curry, one of the most prominent atmospheric scientists who debunks climate myths, responded to Martz’s chart by saying, “Land use requirements (among other thing [sic]) will seriously constrain the penetration of wind and solar into the grid, and this analysis doesn&#8217;t include the additional land requirements for transmission lines.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Land use requirements (among other thing) will seriously constrain the penetration of wind and solar into the grid, and this analysis doesn&#8217;t include the additional land requirements for transmission lines. Well done, Chris <a href="https://t.co/VjrVEopGfS">https://t.co/VjrVEopGfS</a>
— Judith Curry (@curryja) <a href="https://twitter.com/curryja/status/1873788915007775229?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Solar panels are also damaged by harsh weather, such as hail, which could be a problem in the Midwest.
Michigan’s decision to destroy land for more solar panels also comes at a time when climate alarmism is seeing a decline after decades of dire predictions have failed to come true.
Major Wall Street firms <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-02/morgan-stanley-leaves-net-zero-alliance-for-banks?embedded-checkout=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are leaving</a> the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, a group dedicated to “aligning their lending, investment, and capital markets activities with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” according to the U.N.-aligned group’s <a href="https://www.unepfi.org/net-zero-banking/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>. It’s essentially environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, which has come under <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-21-state-attorneys-general-warn-asset-managers-that-esg-agenda-could-violate-fiduciary-duty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">intense scrutiny</a> in recent years, with asset managers seemingly more concerned.

Solar Farm

Michigan To Bulldoze 400+ Acres Of Trees To Build Solar Farm

Environmentalism

Michigan

Politics

The largest U.S. producer of solar panels donated $1.5 million to Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, reportedly spent $2.8 million lobbying the Biden administration and Congress after Biden was inaugurated, then reaped enormous financial benefits from Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which got nary a single Republican vote in Congress, allotted an estimated $1 trillion for environmental spending. Since Biden signed it into law in 2022, Arizona-based First Solar’s stock price has doubled.
“[I]ts profits have soared thanks to new federal subsidies that could be worth as much as $10 billion over a decade,” the Associated Press (AP) <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-solar-inflation-reduction-act-dca914675cd0855004214d82aab5b10c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, adding, “The company will benefit from billions of dollars in lucrative tax credits for domestic clean energy manufacturers.”
After Biden signed the bill, First Solar’s executives and lobbyists “met at least four times in late 2022 and 2023 with administration officials, including John Podesta, who oversaw the measure’s environmental provisions,” the AP noted.
Last December, First Solar sold roughly $650 million of tax credits to a tech company. The company could use tax credits of as much as 16 cents per watt for a solar module.
Canary Media <a href="https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/climatetech-finance/first-solar-cashes-in-with-sale-of-ira-tax-credits-worth-up-to-700m#:~:text=But%20because%20these%20incentives%20are,send%20the%20full%20tax%20reimbursements." target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>:
<blockquote>
But because these incentives are essentially discounts on a company’s federal tax bill, their value to a clean energy manufacturer is limited by how much the firm owes in taxes. Plus, it can take several years for the government to send the full tax reimbursements. The Inflation Reduction Act lets companies get around these limitations by enabling them to sell the tax credits they earn on an open market to any company looking to shave down its tax bill. 
</blockquote>
Meanwhile, investors in the company who donated huge sums to Biden’s 2020 campaign have been raking in the cash. Farhad Ebrahimi, co-founder of the software company Quark who owns roughly 5% stake in First Solar, donated at least $1 million to Biden’s campaign four years ago. He “was added to Forbes billionaires list in 2023 thanks to the skyrocketing value of his roughly 5% stake in First Solar,” AP noted.
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Lukas T. Walton, of the family that owns Walmart, owned 4.9% of the company; he also donated $360,000 to Biden’s 2020 campaign and $100,000 to Biden’s 2021 inauguration.
In July 2022, the day after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and holdout Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) started secret negotiations to get the stalled Inflation Reduction Act to move toward passage, Democratic megadonor Jim Simons gave $2.5 million to Schumer’s super PAC.
Between that time and September, when Biden signed the bill, a hedge fund created by Simons bought 60,000 shares of First Solar, later upping its investment to 1.5 million shares, then selling them in 2023 after First Solar’s stock price had skyrocketed.

President Biden Departs The White House For Baltimore

Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act Paid Huge Dividends For Solar Company That Donated To Him

Corruption

Executive

Left-wing bureaucrats at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are working hard to force states to abandon reliable, low-cost, fossil fuel-based energy in favor of unreliable, high-cost, solar, wind, and battery-based power.
The EPA’s latest scheme includes a power grab for the grid by imposing several new regulatory commandments that states must follow under the Clean Power Plan and the Clean Air Act. The intended effect of these regulations is to replace the fossil fuel-fired plants that form the backbone of America’s electric grid with renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar.
I call it Joe Biden’s plan to wreck the grid — a grid which provides the energy needed to charge our iPhones, access the internet, heat and cool our homes, and power our schools, businesses, factories, farms, and hospitals.
This reckless and radical scheme jeopardizes the safety and security of America’s electrical grid and forces all of us to pay far more for the electricity we take for granted.
Indeed, the Indiana Municipal Power Agency — which provides electricity to many rural customers — projects a double-digit rate increase under the Biden administration’s Clean Power Plan 2.0.
The EPA’s pet project to force the grid to go green is also illegal — which is why my office is fighting these regulations in court.
<h4>The Good Neighbor Rule</h4>
The first legal challenge is to the “good neighbor” rule imposed under the Clean Air Act, which requires states to reduce ozone pollution from in-state sources transported downwind into other states. 
Although the EPA establishes national air quality standards, Congress has reserved to the states the authority to determine how those standards will be met — including those relating to states’ “good neighbor” obligations. This dual allocation of responsibility between the federal government and the states reflects the Clean Air Act’s “cooperative federalism” model. 
As the U.S. Supreme Court noted in Union Elec. Co. v. EPA, each state enjoys “wide discretion in formulating its [air pollution] plan.” Biden bureaucrats apparently never got that memo. In 2022, the EPA arbitrarily rejected the good neighbor plans of 23 states, including Indiana’s. To make things worse, instead of allowing states to remedy any alleged deficiencies in their plans, as the Clean Air Act contemplates, the EPA imposed a one-size-fits-all plan on the states. 
In truth, Biden bureaucrats aren’t interested in working with Indiana or any other state. So much for the “cooperative federalism” model; under this Administration, it’s do as you’re told. However, Hoosiers don’t bend the knee to D.C. bureaucrats, which is why my office has joined the attorneys general of Ohio and West Virginia in a legal challenge to the EPA’s “good neighbor” rule.
In addition to the dubious legality of the “good neighbor” rule, the EPA has failed to address where the energy to support the electric grid will come from after fossil fuel-based sources are forced offline.
The company managing the electrical grid for Indiana and other states, PJM, recently <a href="https://www.pjm.com/-/media/library/reports-notices/special-reports/2023/energy-transition-in-pjm-resource-retirements-replacements-and-risks.ashx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that the current pace of new energy sources, such as solar and wind, would be “insufficient” to keep up with expected retirements of fossil-fuel energy sources mandated by the EPA.
The report explains that wind and solar energy sources are “intermittent and limited duration resources”—meaning the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. Thus, for each megawatt of electricity generated by fossil fuels lost under the EPA rule, it will take multiple megawatts of wind and solar energy to replace it.
Don’t be fooled by the Administration’s green energy gas bags touting the alleged superiority of solar and wind power. They may have a role in meeting America’s future power needs, but they are inferior when it comes to producing reliable power.
Joe Biden claims that his energy policies will make electricity more affordable, but Hoosiers know hogwash when they hear it. Great Britain and Germany live under the same mandates the Biden administration pushes here, and people there pay about three times more for electricity than Americans.
Rather than being dissuaded by these facts, Biden bureaucrats are doubling down. The EPA just unveiled the final version of a rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. I’m proud that my office, in conjunction with West Virginia, is leading a 25-state strong coalition challenging the new rule—a rehash of the Obama-era “Clean Power Plan” found unlawful by the Supreme Court in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency. Like its predecessor, Clean Power Plan 2.0 would shutter fossil fuel power plants, despite the Court’s rejection of the notion that federal bureaucrats can dictate “how Americans will get their energy.”
Given the advent of new technologies with an unquenchable thirst for electricity, regulations that reduce the power supply can only be called reckless. As demand for power grows and these radical green policies suppress supply, electricity prices will surge — jolting the most vulnerable Hoosiers.
Joe Biden’s energy bureaucrats are fully committed to their radical and reckless agenda to wreck the grid, despite the untold costs to Americans’ security and pocketbooks. That’s why Indiana and our partner states are committed to challenging their actions in court and pulling the plug on their illegal power grab.
* * *
Todd Rokita is Indiana’s attorney general.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Solar panels and wind turbines in field

The EPA’s Reckless Rush To ‘Go Green’ In Indiana

The EPA’s Reckless Rush To 'Go Green' In Indiana

Biden Administration

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Indiana

Readers Pass

President Joe Biden has made green energy a cornerstone of his policy agenda, investing tens of billions to promote renewable energy and electric cars.
In April, the administration <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/04/biden-harris-administration-announces-historic-20-billion-in-awards-to-expand-access-to-clean-energy-and-climate-solutions-and-lower-energy-costs-for-communities-across-the-nation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unveiled</a> a plan for $20 billion in awards to foster clean energy in lower-income communities, <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-approves-eighth-offshore-wind-project" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a new offshore wind turbine project, and <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-announces-7-billion-solar-all-grants-deliver-residential" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> $7 billion in new grants to develop solar power.
However, there are some major reservations behind Biden&#8217;s full-steam-ahead approach to renewable energy — principally the concern about the fact that China almost totally controls the production of clean energy components.
According to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-04-16/china-extends-clean-tech-dominance-over-us-despite-biden-s-ira-blueprint" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a>, China possesses more than 80% of the global manufacturing capacity for 11 clean energy components, including parts necessary for the building of solar panels and electric car batteries. It also holds a majority of the manufacturing capacity for parts necessary for the production of wind turbines.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🇨🇳 &#8211; China’s share of global production capacity is now above 80% for 11 clean technologies • Massive Chinese investments mean that China&#39;s clean tech rise may not be over • Beijing also invested US$546bn in its own energy transition in 2022, around half of global financing <a href="https://t.co/XWUd08RyKG">pic.twitter.com/XWUd08RyKG</a>
&mdash; Agathe Demarais (@AgatheDemarais) <a href="https://twitter.com/AgatheDemarais/status/1785202424908828998?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
By contrast, the United States controls 0% of the global manufacturing capacity for more than half of the components, and its highest capacity share is only 10% for hydrogen electrolyzers. U.S. allies like Japan, South Korea, and others in Europe also woefully lag behind China in clean tech production.
China dominates the green energy supply chain, from raw materials to components to finished products. It <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/29/china-clean-green-energy-technology-trade/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">produces</a> 80% of the world&#8217;s solar panels, while the U.S. makes only 2%, and two-thirds of the wind turbines. Additionally, Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/4/20/are-chinese-evs-taking-over-the-car-market#:~:text=Chinese%20EVs%20already%20make%20up,the%20last%20couple%20of%20years." target="_blank" rel="noopener">comprise</a> 60% of global sales. China exported $146 billion worth of EVs, lithium-ion batteries, and solar components in 2023.
A single Chinese solar company, Tongwei Group, plans on expanding its facilities and aims by the end of the year to produce four times the amount of solar cells installed by the entire United States last year, The Washington Post reported.
China will be the “main force leading the global energy transition,” Tongwei Chairman Liu Hanyuan told WaPo.
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China&#8217;s effort to become the preeminent manufacturer of green tech comes as the Chinese Communist Party searches for new ways to expand the nation&#8217;s economy as it remains comparatively sluggish in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-goes-all-in-on-green-industry-to-jolt-ailing-economy-2f836395" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>. It has provided massive subsidies to green tech-related companies to stimulate the growth of the sector.
China is also poised to control the raw materials that are used to build those green energy technologies, largely through its growing influence in Africa.
As of 2022, African nations barely produced any of the world’s supply of lithium, but according to experts, Africa is sitting on a potential lithium bonanza. While Australia mined 55,000 metric tons of lithium in 2021, Zimbabwe, a landlocked nation in southern Africa, is projected to extract over 100,000 tons of lithium by 2031, <a href="https://archive.is/0v90F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Financial Times. Mali, in West Africa, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in Central Africa, are also expected to become major producers of lithium while Namibia, Ghana, and Ethiopia will become moderate producers.
The problem for the U.S. stems from the fact that China has been investing in these countries for years, and China owns or partially owns many of the companies that are poised to exploit the coming lithium boom. The top lithium-producing companies in both Mali and the DRC are partially owned by China, while 3 out of the 4 major lithium mining companies in Zimbabwe are entirely owned by the communist nation.
Just one lithium mine in Zimbabwe, owned by a Chinese company, is estimated to hold up to 11 million metric tons of the mineral, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/09/is-the-us-falling-behind-china-in-africas-lithium-industry-.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to CNBC. Zimbabwe banned the export of raw lithium in December 2022 to encourage domestic processing, but the three Chinese-owned companies, which have invested $678 million into lithium projects in the country and have announced plans for development projects that reach into the billions, are exempt from the regulation. Indeed, Zimbabwe has been a major <a href="https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202301/17/WS63c5fbf3a31057c47ebaa050.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">beneficiary</a> of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a foreign investment and infrastructure policy that critics have argued is a debt trap for poorer nations. As of 2023, China has invested tens of billions in African nations, including Zimbabwe, the DRC, Mali, and Ghana — all places where mining is projected to spike in the coming years.
Additionally, the DRC has a stranglehold on the mining of cobalt, another crucial mineral in the production of EV batteries, producing an <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/cobalt-mining-transforms-city-democratic-republic-congo-satellite/story?id=96795773#:~:text=The%20Democratic%20Republic%20of%20the%20Congo%20produces%20an%20estimated%2070,those%20more%20in%2Ddemand%20minerals." target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> 70% of the world’s supply. Chinese companies also have significant <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/world/congo-cobalt-mining-china.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">control</a> over those mines in the DRC and ones in Zambia. In 2020, China held complete or partial ownership in 15 of the 19 operating cobalt mines in the DRC, The Economist <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/02/28/how-america-plans-to-break-chinas-grip-on-african-minerals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Biden&#8217;s zeal to transition the U.S. away from fossil fuels has left it vulnerable to China&#8217;s control of the supply chain for green technologies. Though China&#8217;s monopoly, at least on components and finished products, is unlikely to last forever, it currently possesses a decisive advantage over every other nation on Earth that it will certainly use to its economic and strategic advantage. To compete with China&#8217;s state-sponsored green revolution, the Biden administration would have to vastly increase government subsidies for green tech initiatives and support private efforts to gain an innovation advantage over the CCP.

Chinese National Flag

China Has Complete Stranglehold On Essential Components For Biden’s Vaunted ‘Green Revolution’

China Has Complete Stranglehold On Essential Components For Biden's Vaunted 'Green Revolution'

electric vehicles

World

A solar energy company recently awarded $3 billion by the Biden administration has been accused of scamming elderly people, and Republican leaders in the House and Senate are now asking the Energy Department to provide more details about the deal.
Sunnova Energy Corporation, a residential and commercial solar energy company based in Houston, benefited from “the single largest commitment ever made by the Federal Government to solar power” when the Biden administration <a href="https://www.energy.gov/lpo/articles/doe-announces-3-billion-partial-loan-guarantee-sunnovas-project-hestia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a loan guarantee with the energy company on September 28. Recent “<a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnBarrasso/status/1733234679761756625" target="_blank" rel="noopener">credible reports</a> of predatory sales strategies,” however, alarmed Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. 
“We are alarmed about recent, credible reports that Sunnova has racked up numerous consumer complaints, including those alleging troubling sales practices, such as Sunnova pressing elderly homeowners in poor health to sign long-term contracts costing tens of thousands of dollars,” Barrasso and McMorris Rodgers wrote in a <a href="https://d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net/12_07_2023_Joint_Letter_to_DOE_LPO_c9ac40dc52.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> sent earlier this week to Jigar Shah, the director of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) at the U.S. Department of Energy. 
“These reports cite interviews with individuals who struggled to deal with large contracts that their elderly parents signed shortly before passing away as well as state consumer complaints alleging maintenance delays and predatory sales strategies,” the letter stated. 
One woman said that a door-to-door salesman for Sunnova sold her father, who she said was in hospice care, a $60,000 solar system for his mobile home shortly before his death, The Washington Free Beacon <a href="https://freebeacon.com/energy/biden-admin-gave-3-billion-loan-to-solar-company-accused-of-scamming-elderly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> last month. 
&#8220;My dad told [the salesman] at that time he was on hospice and dying. And basically, he wasn&#8217;t in his right mind,&#8221; said Mary Loller, adding that Sunnova placed a lien on her father’s property preventing his family from selling it after his death.
Another person, Texas resident Terry Blythe, told the Free Beacon that her 86-year-old father who had been diagnosed with dementia was convinced by a Sunnova salesman to buy a 25-year solar panel lease in 2020. The contract was worth $34,000, which Blythe said she was left to deal with after her father died. 
&#8220;It was truly ripping off old people It was the biggest ripoff I&#8217;ve ever seen,” she said. 
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As far back as 2019, the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/26/sunnova-texas-solar-puerto-rico-hurricane-maria/2946484002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> a report on Sunnova, which confirmed some of its customers’ complaints, including misleading them about the costs of solar panel financing and contracts. 
“Residents in other parts of the country have also reported problems with Sunnova systems, including deceptive sales practices,” the Republican lawmakers’ letter continues. “These allegations are particularly troubling, as LPO has stated this program will focus on disadvantaged communities.” 
President Joe Biden has been pushing the Democrats’ leftist green energy agenda seeking to address the “climate crisis” and has emphasized expanding solar energy. Earlier this year, the Biden administration launched a $7 billion “Solar for All” grant competition proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and created by the president’s Inflation Reduction Act. 
McMorris Rodgers and Barrasso are requesting the Energy Department to provide documents and any information regarding its treatment of the concerns raised by the letter. The Energy Department has until December 21 to provide the lawmakers with the information they&#8217;re seeking.

Joe Biden/Jennifer Granholm

Solar Energy Company Accused Of Scamming Elderly People Was Awarded $3 Billion By Biden Admin. GOP Leaders Are Now Seeking Answers.

Department of Energy

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communist-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Communist China</a> announced this week new plans to restrict the export of two minerals critical to the production of electric vehicles, solar panels, military hardware, and more.
The minerals — gallium and germanium — and dozens of other related metals will be subject to new export regulations that are aimed at punishing the West for restricting China&#8217;s ability to access advanced semiconductors.
China dominates the global market as leading producer for both of the minerals, an advantage that they gained by &#8220;suppressing the price,&#8221; according to Christopher Ecclestone, principle at the natural resource research firm Hallgarten &amp; Co. When they stop suppressing the price, &#8220;it suddenly becomes more viable to extract these metals in the West, then China again has an own-goal,&#8221; Ecclestone <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-03/china-to-restrict-exports-of-metals-critical-to-chip-production" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
“For a short while they get a higher price, but then China’s market dominance gets lost &#8211; the same thing has happened before in other things like antimony, tungsten and rare earths,” he added.
<a href="https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/gallium-statistics-and-information" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gallium</a> is a soft metal that is used in aerospace applications, consumer goods, industrial equipment, military equipment, medical equipment, and telecommunications equipment, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2022/mcs2022-germanium.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Germanium</a> is used in the production of solar cells and fiber optics.
One Chinese semiconductor executive said the move could backfire on China. “It may affect the business of Chinese manufacturers instead during the economic downturn, but with a limited impact on the international market in the short term,” the executive <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6dca353c-70d8-4d38-a368-b342a6450d95" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
The Eurasia Group <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/04/what-are-gallium-and-germanium-china-curbs-exports-of-metals-for-tech.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the move by China was “a warning shot, not a death blow.”
“But these latest measures are more limited in scope, and while the new rules require Chinese exporters to first obtain a license, no language automatically bars export to specific countries or end-users,” the group said. “It is a shot across the bow intended to remind countries including the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands that China has retaliatory options and to thereby deter them from imposing further restrictions on Chinese access to high-end chips and tools.”
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Some experts said that the move would have little-to-no impact — in terms of what consumers notice — over the course of the next year because existing stockpiles will fill the gap. They cautioned that if the dispute carries on longer than a year than a ripple effect will be felt.
Others <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-restricts-exports-of-two-metals-used-in-high-performance-chips-a649402b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the move will “will have an immediate ripple effect on the semiconductor industry, especially with regards to high-performance chips.”

CHINA-BEIJING-NPC-CLOSING MEETING (CN)

China Restricts Export On 2 Minerals That Could Damage Economy

Communist China

Economy

Electric cars

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> issued a rare veto on Tuesday against a bipartisan measure that aims to reinstate tariffs on solar products from Southeast Asian countries after U.S. officials found China companies <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/02/politics/china-solar-tariff-investigation-climate/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">using these nations</a> to get around trade rules.
The measure passed by the GOP-led House and Democrat-controlled Senate &#8220;bets against American innovation,&#8221; Biden said in a message from the White House announcing the third veto of his presidency. Biden also said it causes uncertainty for the U.S. solar industry, which is central to the president&#8217;s goal of reaching a &#8220;carbon-free electricity sector&#8221; by 2035.
At issue is a Commerce Department rule that instituted a two-year moratorium on penalties against solar cells and modules exported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. As explained in the <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/07/01/2022-14241/procedures-covering-suspension-of-liquidation-duties-and-estimated-duties-in-accord-with#:~:text=Presidential%20Proclamation%2010414,-On%20June%206&amp;text=Biden%20signed%20Proclamation%2010414%2C%20%E2%80%9CDeclaration,35067)%20(the%20Proclamation)." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Federal Register</a>, Biden authorized the move with a proclamation in June 2022 to &#8220;ensure access to a sufficient supply of solar cells and modules to assist in meeting the United States&#8217; electricity generation needs&#8221; while the Commerce Department conducts inquiries into ways in which China is able to circumvent U.S. tariffs through its neighbors.
After preliminary findings <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/02/politics/china-solar-tariff-investigation-climate/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported in December</a> showed at least four Chinese companies evading U.S. tariffs through Southeast Asian countries, Republicans in the House and Senate led the charge against the rule, arguing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) needed to be held accountable for breaking U.S. trade laws as well as for human rights abuses.
&#8220;Every day that this rule is in effect the CCP gets closer to dominating the solar market, making it harder for Americans to compete,&#8221; said Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), who introduced the resolution in the House.
Some Democrats joined the effort, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who co-sponsored the Senate version. The United States &#8220;cannot continue to let China get away with laundering solar energy components through other nations with absolutely no consequences,&#8221; Manchin <a href="https://www.energy.senate.gov/2023/5/manchin-to-vote-to-approve-solar-tariff-resolution-to-decrease-reliance-on-foreign-nations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
A group of Democrats in the Senate who <a href="https://www.seia.org/news/president-biden-protects-americas-clean-energy-economy-solar-tariff-veto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sided with members</a> of the solar industry in voicing support for Biden&#8217;s veto <a href="https://medium.com/@SenatorJackyRosen/americas-solar-jobs-depend-on-a-single-vote-in-the-senate-bc0379d14f6a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the bipartisan measure threatens &#8220;to derail much of the progress we’ve made and kill good-paying American jobs, while threatening our clean energy future.&#8221;
Biden said on Tuesday that he does not intend to extend the tariff suspension at the conclusion of the two-year period in June 2024, citing &#8220;progress&#8221; made in the U.S. solar sector.
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Biden issued his first veto in March to block a measure that sought to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-uses-first-veto-of-his-presidency-to-kill-rebuke-of-federal-esg-push" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overturn a rule</a> allowing retirement fiduciaries to invest in accordance with the environmental, social, and corporate governance movement, also known as ESG. Biden&#8217;s second veto, in April, struck down an effort to roll back a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/04/06/message-to-the-house-of-representatives-presidents-veto-of-h-j-res-27/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">waterways rule</a>. <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/vetoes/vetoCounts.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Neither one</a> has been overridden.

Biden Issues Rare Veto, Third Of His Presidency

Biden Issues Rare, Third Veto Against Solar Panels Measure

White House

Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-manchin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Manchin</a> (D-WV) fired the latest salvo in his ongoing conflict with the Biden administration over climate policy.
The moderate Democrat lent his support to two Republican proposals intended to overturn key pieces of the Biden climate agenda Wednesday. First, he cast the deciding vote to pass a GOP-backed bill that would overturn EPA regulations on trucks. Then, he co-sponsored a bill that would reinstate tariffs on solar imports. The moves follow previous threats from Manchin to vote to overturn the $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act entirely.
First, the Senate passed a Congressional Review Act joint resolution on Wednesday that would roll back the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admin-unveils-proposal-for-landmark-nationwide-crackdown-on-gas-cars" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EPA&#8217;s stringent restrictions</a> on nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emissions from heavy-duty trucks. The vote was 50-49, with Manchin casting the deciding vote.
“The last couple of years have shown that truck drivers keep our country moving,&#8221; Manchin said in a <a href="https://www.manchin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/manchin-statement-on-support-for-overturning-regulations-on-trucks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> after the vote. &#8220;However, the Biden Administration wants to burden the trucking industry with oppressive regulations that will increase prices by thousands of dollars and push truck drivers and small trucking companies out of business. When our country faces record-high inflation and vulnerable supply chains, we cannot let the EPA continue to seize unrestrained power and create regulations that devastate our economy. I am proud to support this resolution to stop this government overreach.”
The Biden administration, however, has already signaled that the rollback will not become law. The White House said Wednesday that Biden would <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3973788-white-house-threatens-veto-of-resolution-to-nix-biden-truck-pollution-regulation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">veto</a> the bill. The restrictions, which would affect trucks beginning in model year 2027, are estimated to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 48% by 2045, <a href="https://rollcall.com/2023/04/26/senate-passes-measure-to-roll-back-truck-emissions-rule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Roll Call</a> reported. They are expected to cost around $3.9 billion in 2027 and $4.7 billion in 2045, the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-environment/senate-approves-rule-to-cancel-biden-truck-emissions-rule" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington Examiner</a> noted.
Manchin also co-sponsored a similar CRA resolution authored by Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), which would re-establish tariffs on solar panels imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Biden administration paused those tariffs in 2022.
“The United States relies on foreign nations, like China, for far too many of our energy needs, and failing to enforce our existing trade laws undermines the goals of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to onshore our energy supply chains, including solar,&#8221; Manchin said in a separate <a href="https://www.manchin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/manchin-co-sponsors-resolution-to-end-solar-tariff-waivers-onshore-energy-supply-chains" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. &#8220;I cannot fathom why the Administration and Congress would consider extending that reliance any longer and am proud to join this CRA to rescind the rule.”
A Commerce Department report, via <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-lawmakers-seek-repeal-biden-solar-tariff-waiver-2023-01-26/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>, found that American solar companies are dodging import duties on Chinese-manufactured solar panels by moving them through the four Southeast Asian countries.
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The moves come two days after Manchin <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/manchin-ups-the-ante-in-feud-with-biden-admin-threatens-to-repeal-inflation-reduction-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> to vote to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act — the Biden administration&#8217;s landmark climate spending bill, which he cast the critical vote for — if they did not stop their aggressive green energy push. “If this administration does not honor what they said they would do and continue to liberalize [green energy investment] — I will do everything in my power to prevent that from happening,” the senator told Fox News&#8217;s Sean Hannity in an interview on Monday. “And if they don’t change, then I would vote to repeal my own bill.”

Joe Manchin

Manchin Continues Feud With Biden Admin, Backs GOP Bills To Roll Back Two Pillars Of Biden Climate Agenda

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