The Biden administration is the first to proactively engage in industrial policymaking in more than four decades. The president’s commitment to implementing a modern industrial strategy places a special emphasis on clean energy. Paired with recent legislative victories that mobilize hundreds of billions of dollars of climate investments, the federal government has kicked climate action into high gear. Now, President Biden has the opportunity to seize that momentum by leveraging the Defense Production Act (DPA) to meet his climate and clean energy goals.
The clean energy transition will be capital- and labor-intensive and will require a nationwide economic mobilization at a scale unseen since World War II. The DPA offers numerous pathways to quickly scale up domestic manufacturing and clean technology supply chains.
To meet the short-term needs of the clean energy transition, support long-term industrial planning, and prioritize justice in America’s industrial strategy, Evergreen recommends the use of the following authorities within the DPA:
- Priority purchasing to support the rapid deployment of clean energy technologies, help resolve supply chain crunches, and dedicate federal procurement efforts to supporting smaller manufacturers in the clean technology sector
- Allocations to secure more rapid deployment of manufacturing equipment to new and retooled facilities, protect workers’ interests, bolster disaster preparedness and recovery, and more
- Voluntary agreements to facilitate open communication among clean tech firms and federal representatives, providing a framework for coordination and goal-setting with a long view of industrial development
- Industry studies to allow the president to compel the sharing of proprietary information and other industry data that can bring unparalleled insight into the clean energy sector
Evergreen’s analysis breaks new ground in the application of DPA authorities and provides a foundation for the Biden administration to take even more ambitious climate action under the DPA.