Here comes the EV economy

Presented by Chevron: Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation

Oct 19, 2022 View in browser   By Arianna Skibell Presented by Chevron Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) speaks to members of the media at the BMW Spartanburg plant in Greer, S.C., on Wednesday. BMW will invest $1 billion in its sprawling factory near Spartanburg to start producing electric vehicles and an additional $700 million to build an electric-battery plant nearby. | AP Photo/Sean Rayford Significant shifts in the nation's economy are afoot — if the clean energy effort can get past its growing pains. President Joe Biden marked one interim step today by announcing $2.8 billion in grants from the bipartisan infrastructure law to boost the U.S. electric vehicle and clean energy industry, from minerals mining to battery manufacturing. The funding is part of more than $135 billion from a trio of recently enacted climate and energy laws that aims to catalyze investment in domestic manufacturing for clean energy and reorganize traditional supply chains. The initiative faces serious obstacles, including Chinese dominance of the clean energy supply chain and the fact that the technology relies on essential minerals available only in a few corners of the globe. But private developers are already pouring billions of dollars into the industry. And manufacturers and politicians — including congressional Republicans, who voted en masse against the climate law — are lining up to get in on the ground floor. "South Carolina is going to become the Detroit of batteries," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said during a BMW event announcing the German company's $1.7 billion plan to build EVs in the United States. Biden has pledged to make half of all new vehicle sales electric by decade's end. Today's grant announcement was part of the administration's plan to address the supply chain issues. The president also launched a governmentwide effort to secure a sustainable supply of critical minerals necessary for electric vehicles and wind and solar power generation. Planned private investment in huge facilities dedicated to lithium-ion battery manufacturing needed to meet the rising demand for electric vehicles currently exceeds $40 billion, notes POLITICO's E&E News reporter Andres Picon in a story today . By 2025, domestic battery plant manufacturing capacity could increase by about 333 percent over 2020 levels, according to a recent report from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. But the rush to churn out clean energy and electric cars is also raising concerns about the mining required to dig up the minerals needed to power them. Many Republicans and Democrats are in rare agreement that the country needs a lot more mines to drive the energy transition, writes POLITICO's E&E News reporter Jael Holzman . Exactly how much new mining is needed remains an open question.   It's Wednesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host,  Arianna Skibell.  Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to  askibell@eenews.net. Listen to today's POLITICO Energy podcast Today in POLITICO Energy's podcast: Catherine Morehouse talks about why regulators hit the brakes on a $197 million proposal to build out hundreds of electric vehicle charging stations across Minnesota.   A message from Chevron: The fuels of the future can come from unexpected places. Find out how Chevron is working with partners to convert the methane from cow waste into renewable natural gas. Learn more.   This Is Climate Change Percentage of states' total historic losses from weather and climate disasters in the last five years. | NOAA Weather and climate disasters such as hurricanes, storms, drought, flooding and wildfires have led to $2.2 trillion in losses since 1980 with a third of all losses occurring in the last five years, according to a report published today. The analysis, performed by PSE Healthy Energy for the business group E2, concluded that every state in the country has been affected and faces continued risks from rapidly escalating climate disasters. Power Centers Wreckage left in the wake of Hurricane Ian in Florida. | Win McNamee/Getty Images Climate cards on the table The Biden administration has launched an unprecedented effort to analyze how climate change is affecting property insurance costs and availability, writes Thomas Frank . The move comes as homeowners face soaring premiums in several states and dwindling insurance options. Hanging in the balance The fate of Wisconsin's clean energy future could be determined by one of the tightest gubernatorial races in the country, with the candidates separated by less than half a percentage point, writes Jeffrey Tomich . The outcome of the election will determine control of the state's Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities. In some states, political control of utility commissions matters little. Not so in hyperpartisan Wisconsin, where key issues have been decided along party lines. Treaty exodus The Netherlands is the latest country to announce its withdrawal from an international energy agreement over complaints the deal protects fossil fuel interests, writes Karl Mathiesen . Spain announced its withdrawal last week. Poland is in the process of leaving, and Italy has left the Energy Charter Treaty. in other news An Exxon service station sign in Nashville, Tenn. | Mark Humphrey/AP Photo In the courts: New Jersey has joined the growing list of states and municipalities suing the world's largest oil companies and their trade associations for concealing the climate impact of burning fossil fuels. Natural gas clash: Indigenous leaders in Texas are fighting to keep natural gas exports off sacred land as the war in Ukraine drives demand for the fuel.   A message from Chevron:   Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. A Tesla Powerwall attached to a home. | Tesla Texas' main grid operator approved a pilot program that will allow residential solar and storage systems in the state to participate in the electricity market. Democrats' messaging war over high gasoline prices is overshadowing the recently passed climate bill, one of their hardest-fought legislative achievements. Scientists from Australia to Denmark are urging Biden to protect a whale on the brink of extinction from offshore wind development and oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.   A message from Chevron: Energy demand is growing. Meeting that demand calls for innovation. That's why at Chevron, we're working with partners to convert the methane from cow waste into renewable natural gas. Through our partnerships, we expect to increase our RNG production 10x by 2025. Learn more.     Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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