President Joe Biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill's energy components could lead to benefits for China, according to a not-for-profit organization that researches global energy markets.
AP News reported on Aug. 10 that a bipartisan version of the proposal has been gaining ground in Congress and looks likely to make its way to the president's desk. The legislation recently passed the Senate.
The bill deals with many components of the economy and infrastructure, including power generation and the grid.
“Today, we proved that democracy can still work,” Biden was quoted in the AP article, commending the bipartisan efforts of lawmakers. “We can still come together to do big things, important things, for the American people.”
Despite bipartisan support in the Senate, the bill still has vocal critics including the Institute for Energy Research (IER). In a report earlier this month, IER harshly criticizes the "green energy" components of the legislation and asserts that it will greatly benefit China.
Specific concerns about China from the IER were its domination of the natural resources necessary to produce "green tech," its overwhelming domination of the battery market, its heavy reliance on cheap coal and its use of slave labor.
The Lone Star Standard reported in February that despite being the world leader in producing renewable energy materials, namely cobalt, lithium and polysilicon, China is building a massive amount of new coal-fired power plants, introducing 38.4 gigawatts last year, likely due to its cheap cost and its reliable and efficient generation capabilities.
An Austin News article also reported on China's stranglehold over the renewable energy market, indicating that China controls more than 80% of "the entire global rare earth element supply, making China responsible for 95% of all rare earth element refinery." This makes any US investment in renewable energy infrastructure heavily reliant on the Chinese, as the US does not have any domestic rare earth refinement facilities.
A major concern is that China's production of rare earth elements relies heavily on the use of slave labor. The Washington Times reported that Chinese cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo use slave labor.
"In 2019, about one-third of the polysilicon, a material used to construct solar panels, came from the Xinjiang province of China, where human rights of Uyghur Muslims are reportedly being violated," according to IER. "The Democratic Republic of the Congo where China owns eight of the 14 largest cobalt mines accounting for about half of the country’s output, produces 70% of the cobalt needed using slave and child labor."
China's influence on the U.S. energy grid is not limited to the production of rare earth elements. Austin News reported that businesses with connections to the Chinese government are building energy generation facilities on privately owned land in the U.S., and specifically in Texas. Concerns about the installation in Val Verde County, Texas, particularly its proximity to a nearby US Air Force base, led to the State Legislature passing a law that banned foreign owned generation facilities.
"Biden’s infrastructure bill benefits China, which dominates the global market for solar panels and for electric vehicle batteries," according to IER. "...as long as the over 2,700 page bill has money and incentives allocated to green energy, China will benefit because it has spent decades working to establish its global super-position in these endeavors."