‘Clean energy projects will slacken in the US — other nations are rightly frustrated with Donald Trump's ecological policies'
batteries
— and clean power — in the era of Donald
Trump
:
What is the core of your research?
I'm a historian and particularly interested in how understanding the past can help us meet challenges and opportunities of
clean energy
in the future.
What are some pivotal points in the history of batteries?
I've been studying how different battery chemistries became commercial products, started to scale and changed the way we use energy — my book 'Charged: A History of Batteries and Lessons for a Clean Energy Future' focuses on three types which trans formed the 20th century. These are the lead-acid battery, dis posable double-A alkaline batteries and the lithium ion battery which began by powering cellphones and is now energising entire electric grids.
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With the United States facing tariff uncertainties now, how is the battery industry faring?
During President Biden's administration, the advanced battery sector saw onshoring and policies sup porting the growth of a domestic industry. With President Trump, the outlook has become much more complicated — there is uncertainty about the future of the Inflation Reduction Act now. Meanwhile, tariff uncertainty has caused companies to re assess their investment strategies.
You and your students collaboratively track clean energy investments in 'The Big Green Machine' — what do you see now?
A decade ago, there was no advanced battery industry in the US — now, there are significant projects for mining and refining lithium and other critical materials, manufacturing components, assembling these and making
electric vehicles
(EVs) around the country. There are big factories in Georgia, material processing facilities in Washington state, lithium refineries in Oklahoma and Texas, etc. An optimistic take would be that the US is moving towards largely meeting the country's need for advanced batteries domestically — however, it is more realistic now to expect a slowdown in those investments and industry resizing itself, given policy changes and slow uptake from consumers. Our data is at: www.the-big-green-machine.com.
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What explains this consumer reaction?
Today, in China, over 50% of new car sales are battery-powered vehicles. In the US, we are approaching 10%. In part, that's inertia — the US invested significantly in conventional cars and it's slow to get people to buy new vehicles, especially if they're more expensive. The other part is cultural — many Americans have a deep attachment to conventional gas-powered vehicles. For some, it's also concerns about whether moving to electric vehicles means making the US more dependent on other countries for key technologies. The US has also been slow to develop charging infrastructure.
Please discuss China's leadership here?
In the early 2000s, Beijing started making state-supported investments in advanced energy tech and bringing these to scale with manufacturing — this included batteries, solar panels, wind turbines and EVs. The US also started this during the Obama ad ministration. However, China stuck with it and provided incentives to consumers, sup port to state-run and private companies and invested in relationships with suppliers of key materials worldwide — that combination allowed Beijing to scale manufacturing of clean energy tech faster than any country.
You also write about how the Republicans were once staunch environ mental advocates — why did that change?
In the 1970s, Richard Nixon enabled some of America's major environmental laws and created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Then, the Republican Party itself transformed — its moderate core dwindled and the Republicans grew more conservative and increasingly worried about environmental issues possibly placing the US at an international disadvantage. The turning point was Ronald Reagan's administration in the 1980s — Republicans started rolling back certain environmental regulations, citing more growth and less red tape. That has culminated with Donald Trump who largely dismisses the science that underpins environmental issues, has cut funding for ecological agencies and indicated the US won't join global efforts on climate change.
Can there actually be American exceptionalism in a warming world — and how should other countries react?
The short answer is, yes, there can be American exceptionalism here — but this will mean a world which gets warmer faster and is less sustainable. It will slow collective environmental efforts and other countries are right to be frustrated with the Trump administration. It will take time to rebuild trust and cooperation which bolstered some of the world's collective environmental achievements like the Montreal Protocol.
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