The transition to an electric-car future will be an uphill battle, with the president and Republicans in Congress at odds over his $4 trillion economic agenda.
A race is on to produce lithium in the United States, but competing projects are taking very different approaches to extracting the vital raw material. Some might not be very green.
The president’s plans to cut emissions in half by 2030 relies heavily on a government effort to steer the development of new industries, but business leaders are fretting over the rapid timeline.
Hitting the targets could require a rapid shift to electric vehicles, the expansion of forests nationwide, development of complex new carbon-capture technology and many other changes, researchers said.
For decades, Democrats have countered opposition to "job-killing" environmental regulation by saying combatting climate change would create well-paying new jobs. President Biden is betting on it.
The president is hoping to make electric vehicles more affordable to turn a niche product into one with mass appeal.
The president will begin selling his proposal on Wednesday, saying it would fix 20,000 miles of roads and 10,000 bridges, while also addressing climate change and racial inequities and raising corporate taxes.
As vice president, Joe Biden oversaw a “green jobs” stimulus package that produced notable failures. This time, with more money and more demand for clean technology, will be different, Democrats say.
Carmakers say new models should also help lift the industry in 2021, after a 15 percent decline in its slowest year since it recovered from the Great Recession.