On Friday, President Biden made an unforeseen decision to utilize a statute from the Cold War era in order to allocate government funds towards the advancement of American manufacture of electric heat pumps. These heat pumps serve as an alternative to conventional gas-powered domestic furnaces.
In a joint statement with the White House, the Department of Energy (DOE) has made a significant announcement on the allocation of a substantial $169 million award. This funding will be distributed among nine projects spanning across 15 locations worldwide, with the primary objective of expediting the manufacture of electric heat pumps. This development is being hailed as a historic milestone in the field.
Biden successfully acquired a substantial amount of funding by leveraging the 1950 Defense Production Act (DPA) to bolster home manufacturing of green energy technology.
As per the American Gas Association, the utilization of wartime legislation is being employed as a strategic means to promote a policy goal that is in opposition to the robust energy stance of our nation.
“Getting more American-made electric heat pumps on the market will help families and businesses save money with efficient heating and cooling technology,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. “These investments will create thousands of high-quality, good-paying manufacturing jobs and strengthen America’s energy supply chain, while creating healthier indoor spaces through home-grown clean energy technologies.”
“Today’s Defense Production Act funds for heat pump manufacturing show that President Biden is treating climate change as the crisis it is,” added John Podesta, the White House clean energy czar. “These awards will grow domestic manufacturing, create good-paying jobs, and boost American competitiveness in industries of the future.”
The president is “using his wartime emergency powers under the Defense Production Act to turbocharge U.S. manufacturing of clean technologies and strengthen our energy security,” according to Biden’s national climate advisor, Ali Zaidi.
Under the actions announced on Friday, the DOE will give millions of dollars to companies including Copeland, Honeywell International, Mitsubishi Electric, and York International Corporation—all of which are billion-dollar multinational enterprises. The programs will support the growth of the commercial, industrial, and residential heat pump industries.
“This is absolutely shameful corporate welfare. But we’re to believe that, because it’s for the sake of climate change, all is well. I think that’s ridiculous,” Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital in an interview.
“Of all the Biden administration’s claimed climate emergency declarations, this may be the craziest of them all,” Lieberman continued. “There is no shortage of heat pumps — it’s just that not every homeowner wants them. Consumers ought to decide for themselves. The government has no role in tilting the balance in favor of one energy source over another. That’s clearly what’s happening here.”
Less than two months ago, the DOE announced new regulations targeting conventional household gas heaters as part of its climate agenda and larger effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions. This is when the Biden administration took its action.
The updated rules, which go into effect in 2028, specifically state that furnaces must achieve an annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) of 95%. This means that furnace makers will only be allowed to market furnaces that, within six years, convert at least 95% of fuel into heat. The industry standard AFUE for a residential furnace is currently 80%.
The law would essentially phase out non-condensing gas furnaces, which are frequently less expensive but less efficient, due to the stringent AFUE requirements. But after the regulation takes effect, homes that switch from a non-condensing to a condensing furnace would have to pay hefty installation costs.
“Energy security is a top priority for AGA,” American Gas Association President and CEO Karen Harbert also told Fox News Digital on Friday. “We are deeply disappointed to see the Defense Production Act, which is intended as a vital tool for advancing national security against serious outside threats, being used as an instrument to advance a policy agenda contradictory to our nation’s strong energy position.”
“Increased use of natural gas has been responsible for sixty percent of the electrical grid’s CO2 emissions reductions,” she continued. “This vital tool for emissions reductions and energy system resilience should not be unfairly undermined through misuse of the Defense Production Act.”
The Defense Production Act (DPA), which dates back to the Cold War, gives the president significant power to affect domestic commerce “in the interest of national defense,” according to the Congressional Research Service. The president can obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in public funding for a specific national security purpose by invoking the statute.
In the past, Biden claimed that climate change constituted a national emergency and utilized the DPA to accelerate the mining of vital domestic resources and to remove tariffs on Chinese solar panel imports.
Fascist regimes are characterized by their frequent use of “national emergencies” to seize control during times of conflict and further their political objectives.
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