GOLD: Josh Hawley Sets Biden's Climate Agenda on Fire During Hearing

Joe Biden's Deputy Secretary of Energy, David Turk, appeared on Capitol Hill on Thursday and ran face-first into a brick wall.

The embarrassment began when it was Josh Hawley's turn to question him. The Missouri senator proceeded to set Biden's climate agenda on fire with one of the most clear and concise takedowns of the insane electric vehicle mandates put in place by the administration.

I try not to overuse the phrase "must watch," but the clip is just a little over a minute long and it's worth every second.

Senator Josh Hawley just delivered a knockout punch to Biden's green agenda.

The Biden Administration is paying China to produce electric cars and sell them to us.

Pure madness. pic.twitter.com/tYHjSRCRMT
— Daniel Turner (@DanielTurnerPTF) January 11, 2024

HAWLEY: Let's talk a little bit about who's really benefiting from this administration's climate agenda, and from these draconian electric vehicle mandates. So, Mr. Turk, you've already alluded to this. I know you know the answers to these questions. Currently, one nation accounts for 60 percent of the world's electric vehicle production. That nation is?
TURK: China
HAWLEY: One nation accounts for 76 percent of the world's lithium battery production. That nation is?
TURK: China
HAWLEY: Yet, your administration, the president's administration, the mandates that you put in place require that two-thirds of our new vehicle sales in just the next eight years be electric vehicles. Your policies are driving us and our supply chains into the hands of our greatest geo-strategic enemy, enriching them, enriching their government while forcing Americans to pay for electric vehicles that on average cost $7,000 more, on average than a traditional vehicle, are more expensive to repair and insure, require more frequent replacement of everything from tires to component parts.
So, Mr. Turk, why is it good for the American worker that we force our supply chains to a country that is our greatest rival and adversary, and why is it good for the American consumer?

It blows my mind that we are even having this argument. Lithium batteries are not only largely produced by China, including the use of child labor, but they aren't even renewable. So we are forcing American money into the hands of a communist dictatorship that wants to destroy us and rule the world, and we are getting what in return?

I'll answer that question. We are getting cars that can't even take a normal road trip, lose half their battery capacity in the cold, wear out tires quickly because they are so heavy, and cost astronomical amounts of money to repair. That includes having to replace said batteries that usually carry five-digit price tags.

Meanwhile, China remains the world's largest emitter of carbon emissions, and they aren't slowing down anytime soon. Think about how insane that dynamic is. We are knee-capping Americans for "climate change" to enrich China, which is continuing to build coal-fired power plants like they are pop-up houses. If the Biden administration was purposely trying to sabotage the United States, what would it be doing differently?

A report just came out today that Hertz is selling off much of its electric vehicle fleet in favor of more gas-powered vehicles. Why? Because the current generation of electric vehicles is not viable outside of special-use scenarios. To try to force them on everyone would cause severe harm to American families.

Yet, that's exactly what is being done, both at the state and federal level (specifically, in places like California). Unless things change, China will come out far ahead in this deal, and it will have not made a dime's worth of difference for the "climate."