From Coal to Critical Minerals: Understanding the Key Policies That Will Shape America’s Green Future
Silverline supports and promotes content development within our internship program. Our interns are invited to our join our team based on their academic performance, professional experience, and passion for the clean energy mission. This series on critical minerals has been developed by Julia Moon. Julia is a two-time Silverline intern and a rising junior at Brown University double majoring in Environmental Studies and International and Public Affairs. Her areas of interest include clean energy, international environmental policy, sustainability, and land use.
Clean Energy. Green Transition. Climate Tech (Renewables, Carbon Capture, Electric Vehicles) – all buzzwords that have become the center of entrepreneurship, policy, and media over the past few years. As threats of climate change and the need for new solutions become ever more apparent, the world is scrambling to make up for decades of inaction as the 2050 net-zero emission deadlines approach. Just this summer, there are millions of Americans under heat advisory in the hottest summer on record– something that brings climate change to a tangible reality for all of us.
The United States – the second-largest carbon dioxide emitter in the world – is working overtime to overhaul decades-old energy policy and catch up to China and the EU, which have scaled the green transition much more quickly. While discussions of EVs and renewables may shine more brightly in the media, there are several other recent developments that will likely have monumental impacts on the domestic energy industry and broader economy.
The accelerating transition away from fossil fuels
One such policy is an April ruling from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that orders coal plants operating past 2039 to create and implement plans to control 90% of their carbon emissions, beginning in 2032. This ruling marks an aggressive push to curtail the country’s contributions to greenhouse gasses (the power sector contributes to 25% of America’s total emissions) and could cut down 1.4 billion metric tons of carbon pollution through 2047.
While coal plants are left in a scramble to invest in carbon capture and storage technology in order to meet the new mandates, a new door is opened for advancements to renewables and modernizing the grid, which have lost out on investments to reliable coal production.
Moving toward resilience
It’s about time that stakeholders from policy makers to ratepayers turned their attention to the power grid: a vast, fragile network that hasn’t had real upgrades in decades. We’ve known about the delicate nature of the grid for years now, but little significant action has been taken to transform it. Until just this year, that is, when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released a landmark ruling instructing grid operators to plan for new transmission infrastructure that can support renewable energy and protect against extreme weather (like the 2021 ice storm that wiped out Texan power in a massive blackout and left power companies in disarray). Such measures will be necessary as the amount of renewable energy grows and a wave of EVs calls for a more resilient power grid to support charging networks. The question becomes, how do we grow the clean energy to meet the moment?
Both the EPA and FERC cases are hallmarks in America’s growing dedication to implementing renewable energy and adopting sustainable consumer practices. One other development, though, may have the opposite effect as intended.
The cost of being late to the critical minerals game
In May 2024, the Biden administration announced an expansion of tariffs on Chinese imports including green technology, metals, and critical minerals. This decision intends to bolster American companies and incentivize an increase in domestic production that will help the U.S. step away from China’s dominance in the market. However, it may be a risky business bet in the short to midterm as the US builds and brings online new capabilities to meet industry needs and regulatory/policy requirements.
Unlike other materials that can be produced elsewhere, China controls the majority share of upstream and midstream production and processing for critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. America’s domestic critical mineral production, on the other hand, is still in the early growth stage, often slowed by lengthy permitting processes.
Although the critical mineral tariffs are designed to reduce reliance on China and their poor mining standards, unless domestic production is rapidly scaled up the tariffs will instead likely hamper downstream companies with supply chain disruptions. Over time, this will impact not just the industry but consumers and the broader economy as prices soar and demand surpasses supply growth.
Even if they have not yet fully taken their place in the media spotlight, critical minerals undoubtedly are the key to a successful green transition. To most Americans, the Biden administration’s new tariffs may sound like another necessary move in the economic chess game that the United States and China are playing. But in order to reach 2050 climate goals and scale critical mineral mining in a sustainable way, we will need mass international cooperation– even with China. If you’re interested in learning more about the multilayered social and policy concerns around critical minerals, keep an eye out for the next post in the series.
