Biden deploys Pentagon to beat climate change and China - The Japan Times
Biden deploys Pentagon to beat climate change and China - The Japan Times
U.S. President Joe Biden’s green pitch has long had two prongs: saving the planet and outpacing China. The two are now combined in one elemental form: graphite.
The Department of Defense announced a $37.5 million grant recently for Graphite One, a startup developing North America’s largest deposit of the material. Back in March 2022, with Russia’s then-recent invasion of Ukraine amping up the geopolitical mood music, Biden issued a presidential determination that domestic mining of minerals for making large-capacity batteries is "essential to the national defense.” Under Title III of the Korean War-era Defense Production Act, the federal government can advance loans, grants or contracts to spur industries deemed critical to national security, with the definition of the latter having expanded a lot since the 1950s.
Graphite — one of five minerals named in Biden’s announcement — is the single biggest ingredient by weight in the batteries that go into electric vehicles and the power grid, far ahead of lithium. (Graphite also happens to be used in a variety of defense applications, including jet engine components, rocket nozzles and, in a grim coincidence, a type of bomb that knocks out power grids).
Related Knowledge Center: Climate diplomacy
Talks are well underway in preparation for the next major international meeting on climate change, 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), scheduled to begin Nov. 30 in the United Arab Emirates.
Much like last year’s COP27, finances — specifically, aid to developing nations — will be at the center of conference deliberations.
The conference faces an even greater sense of urgency brought on by the Sept. 8, 2023, release of the first global stocktake, which calls for accelerated action to meet the goals set in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement (COP21).
Climate diplomacy: COP 27 | Climate diplomacy: COP 28 | Climate diplomacy: COP 29