Sen. Cynthia Lummis talks electric cars, and Biden

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - As the subject of electric vehicles becomes central to environmental agendas, lawmakers wonder if the batteries’ adverse effects can weather political dependencies and a tight time.

“The administration is getting the cart before the horse. We have to create an environment where we are harvesting those raw materials to build the EV batteries here in the United States,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis.

The Biden administrators set a proposed target date of having two-thirds of all American cars become electric vehicles by 2030.

The materials needed to produce EV batteries include lithium and cobalt, and there’s a controversy about where and how those are acquired.

China’s the leading supplier of lithium, and the Democratic Republic of Congo provides much of the cobalt, creating a reliance on adversarial countries and child labor to meet the proposed environmental deadline.

Lawmakers state the administration should focus instead on strengthening supply chains for homegrown minerals and manufacturing.

“But because they’re also implementing this strategy through the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies. We’re in a position where it would take a change of administration to get our policies in line with our ability to produce electronic vehicles in the United States,” said Lummis.

We will have more on our interview with Senator Lummis tomorrow; she’ll be talking about inflation and manufacturing. Join us again.

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