Sens. John Hickenlooper and Thom Tillis are introducing a pair of bipartisan bills Friday to force the federal government to develop a national strategy to spur U.S. production of the critical minerals needed to build a clean energy economy.
The new legislative push marks the latest bid by lawmakers to chip away at China’s dominance over critical minerals supply chains that has put Beijing at the forefront in manufacturing electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies to combat climate change.
The two bills, shared exclusively with POLITICO, are intended to stimulate innovation in the U.S. to produce technologies for identifying, mining, processing and recycling minerals.
The “National Critical Minerals Council Act” would establish a National Critical Minerals Council chaired by the vice president to coordinate a U.S. critical minerals strategy. That council would be led by a chief minerals adviser appointed by the president who would coordinate actions across federal agencies.
