Creating a Domestic U.S. Supply Chain for Clean Energy Technology

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The global clean energy industry is at an inflection point. The trajectory of generating and deploying clean energy has risen1 globally, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. Political and consumer support2 for clean energy remains high, and costs are dropping.3 In addition, the United States is poised to make historic investments in clean technology deployment in order to meet its international climate commitments and cut the nation’s emissions by 50 percent by 2035.
The amount of materials and products needed to supply this growth in production will increase exponentially over the next few years. That raises the question: Will these materials and products come primarily from abroad, or will they be sourced and manufactured in the United States? From lithium in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, to the steel in a wind turbine, to the polysilicon in a solar panel, the next decade represents the best opportunity to date to onshore the manufacturing supply chains of clean technology. In doing so, this country would create and retain4 tens of thousands, and potentially hundreds of thousands, of good jobs for working Americans.

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