MANCHIN QUESTIONS DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY WITNESSES ABOUT PROTECTING TAXPAYER DOLLARS

Press Release

"In the past two years, our state has celebrated announcements for battery manufacturing plants, carbon capture projects, microgrid-powered industrial sites, with many more projects on the way that stand to benefit from DOE support. In the case of our hydrogen hub, the private sector is proposing to invest up to $6 billion on top of the nearly $1 billion from DOE. If you look at the $1 billion we have, that's a 13% investment the U.S is making for an 87% return. That's a tremendous thing for us to incentivize and be willing to share some of that risk that makes these projects possible. And the story is similar across our country, with private sector announcements pouring in as a result of the opportunities created by these laws.

While I am thrilled to see all of these impactful investments being made, it has also been disheartening to witness this administration distort the intended purpose of these laws to fulfill their own agenda. These laws were deliberately crafted to secure our energy supply chains, but so far, we've seen too many indications that this administration is willing to sacrifice security to pursue their unrealistic anti-fossil goals. The most apparent example of this is through their implementation of the IRA's EV tax credit. That credit was designed to encourage automakers to onshore their supply chains in order to break our reliance on China who has dominated the EV supply chain. Unfortunately, actions by this administration to cut the sourcing requirements in half and water them down in other ways just to get more EVs on the road--Chinese or otherwise--clearly are not a reflection of the text or intent of the IRA and Infrastructure Law.

The IRA and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are an investment in American energy security to protect ourselves and our allies while breaking our reliance on countries like China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and other nations who do not share our values and should not be relied upon to provide critical elements of our supply chains. While I was pleased to see that DOE rescinded the Microvast award, I am alarmed that the company was able to get through even the first round of vetting. We continue to hear about other companies seeking to use taxpayer dollars to make a devil's bargain with Chinese technology providers, like Ford's potential licensing deal with CATL seeking to qualify for IRA credits or the conditional loan approved by DOE for Kore Power that involves purchasing technology from a Chinese firm. Let me be clear, I do not want--and I don't believe any of our committee members wants--a cent of this funding benefiting China in any way.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Look at the technologies we're trying to develop here. Are there any that are pie in the sky that don't have proven technology? Are you looking at proven technologies that haven't been matured?

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Are we able to find out what maybe China is still receiving? Because this administration is circumventing what the intent of the bill [IRA] was which is to make us independent and break as quickly as we can from our dependency on China.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Do you all agree that the grants and loans under your offices are capped by the IRA and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law?

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Can you assure me that the Department will stay within the science of the Argonne National Lab for the GREET model and it will not discriminate against feedstocks based on this administration's political preferences? And when do you think that Argonne National Laboratories will have the GREET model released for the hydrogen hubs?"

Source