The Department of Energy announced on Thursday it will provide a $2 billion loan to Nevada-based Redwood Materials in order to accelerate production of important components for the batteries in electric vehicles. The loan will allow Redwood Materials to build out their manufacturing capabilities near Reno, Nevada. Redwood and the Energy Department say this loan promises to generate around 3,400 construction jobs, and result in at least 1,600 full-time jobs once the construction is completed.
The loan is a part of a larger project that aims serve a handful of purposes: the promotion of more electric vehicle production; the creation of more jobs and manufacturing; and diversifying our supply chain and decreasing the United States’ reliance on China for all things manufactured. Finally, any expert worth anything knows that the money being made and invested in the clean energy space is going to be extraordinary—with estimates like $23 trillion (with a “T”) in opportunities by the end of this decade.
Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm was on site to make the announcement, along with newly elected Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. Secretary Granholm spoke about all of the great opportunities being afforded to Nevada with this federal investment. She also touched on the specific components Redwood Materials would be producing in a short but easy-to-follow breakdown of the various parts that must be produced to create an EV battery. Following her speech and explanation of the science of clean energy, Gov. Lombardo spoke and defaulted to the threadbare chauvinism we have seen for too long, telling the audience that she gave him “a good science lesson,” and then asking her as she came up to speak, “Do you actually understand that science, or did you just memorize that?”
Granholm didn’t get her job because she married Ivanka Trump or because she was as smart as a brick with glasses attached to it. She got the job because she’s smart, aligns both politically with President Joe Biden, and was approved of by a vast scientific and manufacturing community that realizes we need to move toward more renewable forms of energy—fast. Oh, yeah, she was also the governor of a state much larger than Lombardo’s before she became a part of the Biden cabinet.
Here’s the clip of Gov. Lombardo trying to underplay, in a “playful” way, how much more Joe Biden’s administration is doing for his constituents than anyone in the Republican Party.
Secretary Granholm decided the best way to handle this situation was to choose neither a high nor low road, and instead get down brass tacks. She tweeted, “Big words can be intimidating, I understand. All the Governor needs to know is that $2 BILLION and thousands of good-paying jobs are coming to Nevada thanks to POTUS.”