Advanced Energy Perspectives

As Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine drags on, it’s important to realize the role our energy choices are playing in the conflict. Our nation’s addiction to oil is financing violent autocrats, like Vladimir Putin, giving them the resources to wage wars abroad and oppress citizens at home. Congress and the White House have reacted by sanctioning Russia’s economy and banning fossil fuel imports from Russia to eliminate America as one of their customers, but it does not put Putin out of business. The best way for America to bankrupt Putin and other petro-dictators is by slashing oil demand here and around the world.

An historic investment of $7.5 billion in federal funds for EV charging is on its way, headed for the states. This federal funding, from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) passed by Congress and signed into law in November, will make it easier for state and local policymakers across America to accelerate the electric transportation transition and meet emissions reductions goals they have set for themselves. It will also pave the way for further growth of the more than 15,000 EV-related businesses in the U.S., with tens of thousands of Americans relying on the electric transportation industry for their livelihood. The time is now for states to set themselves up to make the most of this opportunity.

The U.S. House of Representatives has spent the last three weeks marking up a series of legislative proposals that form the basis of the Build Back Better Act, the budget reconciliation bill put forward by the Democrats. Taken together, these proposals put into legislative text the elements of President Biden’s American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan that were not included in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed earlier this year. While, as in all legislation, there are elements that disappoint, AEE is impressed by the overall scope and scale of investments in advanced energy proposed. If enacted, the Build Back Better Act would put the U.S. on course to leading the world in advanced energy manufacturing, transportation electrification, and carbon emissions reductions, all while creating millions of jobs and investing in economic opportunity for American workers and families.

It’s Labor Day! It’s a day not only for backyard BBQs and final dips in the pool, but also, and more importantly, a day to recognize the hard-working yet under-appreciated folks who built America, and keep it humming. For us at AEE, it’s also a day to provide some new resources for growing jobs in the advanced energy industry.

In the 1920s the United States dominated the automobile market, led by Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Co. Before that, cars were difficult to make and expensive to buy. But thanks to Ford’s Model T and (then) newfangled assembly line production, the demand for cars became overwhelming, driving production into high gear, putting Americans to work with higher wages, and lowering the cost of these vehicles. This phenomenon occurs with most new technologies, from the desktop computer to the toaster. So, it is no surprise that we see the same phenomenon happening with electric vehicles (EVs) nearly 100 years later. Question is: Is the U.S. prepared to dominate the EV market the way it did in Henry Ford’s time?