A senior State Department official expressed confidence that the march toward clean energy and decarbonization will continue regardless of who wins the White House.
Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt, a Biden appointee, told reporters during a press call that while he’s a career foreign service officer who avoids political speculation, he believes the build-out of battery manufacturing, electric vehicle supply chains, and those for wind and hydrogen technologies are going to continue in both red and blue states with help of the Inflation Reduction Act.
“I think all of that is going to continue regardless of what happens in our electoral politics, because it’s being [driven] by consumer choice,” said Pyatt. “It’s being driven by technology, it’s being driven by price competitiveness.”
The Biden administration has been exploring partnerships across the world tied to securing critical minerals like lithium, nickel, zinc, cobalt and rare earths to meet booming demand for EV batteries, renewable energy technology and defense applications. The government is now looking to Brazil to help shore up and diversify supplies of critical minerals amid the ongoing energy transition.
