The CEO of a leading U.S. steelmaker said he is considering ditching production of low-carbon “green” steel and forgoing a $500 million Biden administration grant — a move that would offer the latest big setback for the president’s attempt at a climate-friendly remake of American manufacturing.
In an interview with POLITICO, Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said the Ohio-based company produces the steel with the lowest carbon emissions in the world. But he said his company cannot persuade buyers, mostly in the automobile sector, to pay the price to cover the costs of producing more environmentally friendly steel.
“There are only two ways to fix that: One is they change their minds and pay. So far, not very successful. The other way is for me to go back to what I was before and emit more,” Goncalves told POLITICO on Thursday. “That’s a decision that I’m going to have to make very soon.”
Goncalves’ words come amid a broader set of headwinds for private investments in low-carbon and clean-energy projects, which have seen several initiatives delayed or scrapped entirely despite the massive federal subsidies available through President Joe Biden’s climate and infrastructure laws. The Cleveland-Cliffs project is especially significant because it addresses climate pollution from industrial manufacturing — one of the next frontiers in lessening U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
