China has become an alarming threat to U.S. national security. Few issues encapsulate this more than our race for energy security and the technologies of tomorrow.
This is a contest we will continue to lose to the China unless we embrace the proper tools to fight back. Many thanks to U.S. Sen. Todd Young for his efforts on legislation like CHIPS and the recent Countering Economic Coercion Act to tackle the China problem — yet more needs to be done.
As anyone paying electric bills throughout the last two years will tell you, Washington’s approach to energy is not working. Here in Indiana, Hoosiers are paying 15% more for electricity than the rest of the country. While the problem is rooted in a wide-ranging combination of overregulation and inefficient bureaucracy, the solution itself is crystal clear: we need to fully commit to unleashing American energy production.
That starts with doubling down on the resources that America is already leading the world in. For instance, nearly a quarter of global natural gas — the highest consumed energy source of our own state — is produced right here in the US. We also produce almost a third of worldwide nuclear energy.
Choosing to run up the score in both sectors will help ensure America can meet its increasing energy demands.
Also key to accomplishing this goal is staying competitive in the world’s fastest growing technologies, namely solar, hydroelectric, and wind. In this arena, China is not only dominating us – they are positioning to lock us out of the game altogether. China’s production lead in each of these categories can already be measured in magnitudes of American generation. For perspective of how quickly this gap is growing, China is on track to manufacture more solar panels this year than the U.S. has in total.
Moreover, their grip on the supply chains that make production possible borders on absolute. China controls approximately 90% of global production of rare earth elements, and also enjoys a near-monopoly on the processing and refining of these minerals. This chokehold is a stunning vulnerability as it allows the China to leverage access and prices for not just energy technologies, but everything from cell phones to medical devices.
Forking over this control is unacceptable. In no uncertain terms, we are locked in a technological arms race that will determine the future of the global economy. This is a race we must win, and we have the means to do it.
The key will be leveling the playing field for the businesses engaged in the contest here at home. China subsidizes its state-owned enterprises, floods the global market with their artificially cheap supply, and violates international trade rules because they know they can get away with it. Additionally, China has increased their Co2 emissions from 4 billion tons to nearly 12 billion tons since 1999 whereas the US cut its Co2 emissions from 6 billion tons to about 5 billion tons over the same period, according to “Our World Data.”
Simply put: China is polluting the world.
Washington needs to step up and demand accountability, and the most natural way to do so is by implementing a foreign pollution fee.
In essence, this new fee would levy a price on imported goods based on the pollution emitted in their overseas production. Since US companies create a fraction of the pollution as China in everything from minerals processing to steel fabrication (especially relevant for Hoosiers), this would flip the script by making domestic products more competitive, recentralizing our supply chains, and protecting American families from China-controlled price gouging.
This approach is especially logical with our allies already angling to do the same thing. By working together to develop new rules of the road for international trade, China simply cannot compete with our shared economic might.
It is time for Congress to meet the moment by backing course-correcting policies that preserve American competitiveness. Washington needs to recognize China’s skyrocketing pollution policies and impose a foreign pollution fee.
Jim Merritt served in the Indiana Senate for 30 years. He also wrote “Passing the Torch; Preserving Indiana’s Heritage.” Send comments to [email protected].
