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Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury Secretary, recently traveled to the state to visit Livent, a lithium hydroxide processing company that gets its supply from Canada and Argentina. As The New York Times reported, Livent expanded its plant in Bessemer City, N.C., and increased its manufacturing capacity there by 50% following the passage of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which includes tax incentives for U.S.-made EVs.
Despite pushback from environmental groups who oppose the mining projects, Yellen defended lithium investments in North Carolina and elsewhere. Among other things, she said such investments could bring more energy security to the U.S. while also lowering energy costs and bringing higher wages to low-income communities.
“Key supply chains in areas like clean energy are over-concentrated in China, in part due to unfair nonmarket practices over decades,” Yellen said during her North Carolina tour. “With massive increases in domestic manufacturing capacity, our country will become less dependent on other countries for the inputs we need, and we will make great strides toward energy security.”
https://thebusinessdownload.com/north-carolinas-dormant-lithium-industry-is-suddenly-hot-again/