Incorporate Reliable Supply Chain
Zolaikha Strong is the Director for Energy Policy and Sustainable Energy Markets at the Copper Development Association.
Following one of the most unusual and contentious elections in modern history, President Elect Joe Biden will now be looking to lay out his agenda for the next four years in the midst of a global pandemic and increasingly dramatic effects of a changing climate.
A crucial part of that agenda should be reinvigorating the U.S. energy grid and supporting the expansion of renewables to generate and safely distribute affordable and clean energy while cutting carbon emissions.
Accomplishing this in a sustainable manner also means ensuring a steady and secure supply of responsibly sourced materials to support these improvements. Any national energy agenda must also include elements that facilitate the continued development of this reliable supply chain.
The federal government will need to make a comprehensive and considerable effort to encourage investment in upgrading the energy grid, establishing more energy storage capabilities and expanding the use of renewable resources to adapt to and drive shifts in the country's energy consumption and reduction of carbon emissions.
President-Elect Biden laid out an extensive plan during his campaign to accomplish these efforts while revamping U.S. infrastructure, strengthening the economy post-pandemic and countering climate change. However, achieving an overhaul in the energy sector will require widespread and bipartisan support from a variety of important stakeholders.