Climate agenda surrenders American energy independence and national security to China, report says

China is exploiting the climate agenda to make the United States dependent on the communist country and more vulnerable to it, according to a year-long research project by the Heritage Foundation.

“Chinese Handcuffs,” as the project is dubbed, consists of three reports from the foundation’s researchers, and the project was concluded Thursday with a report that lays out policy proposals meant to address the problem.

Among the proposals is a ban on China-made electric vehicles. Diana Furchgott-Roth, director of Heritage’s Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment, discussed how a feature that comes with OnStar software on General Motors automobiles can slow or stop a stolen vehicle.

“Imagine if the Chinese Communist Party, because we had some involvement in some China-Taiwan difficulties, decided they were going to stop all the electric vehicles in the United States by remote or even worse, spoof with their navigation systems, spoof with their braking systems, and make them not work. This is a major national security threat to us,” Furchgott-Roth said.

The report also proposes the U.S. expand permits for oil and gas development and domestic mining of critical minerals to maintain U.S. independence in these areas and improve export opportunities to allies. The report also calls to repeal green subsidies and tax credits, pass permitting reform so developers don’t have to wait years to build infrastructure, and roll back mandates for renewable energy and electric vehicles.

“We should be rolling back the mandates that require us to use the wind turbines, the solar panels, the electric vehicles, to rely on the electric batteries — because China makes all of these. It dominates the world in all of these. And why we are mandating these, this equipment that's being produced by China, to me, is a mystery,” said Furchgott-Roth at a presentation of the policy proposals.

Victoria Coates, vice president of Heritage's Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, explained that “Chinese Handcuffs,” also known as a Chinese Finger Trap, is a metaphor for China’s decades-long effort to “subvert American energy dominance and replace it with reliance on Chinese products for the so-called green energy revolution.”

The first report in the project, “How China exploits America’s climate agenda,” analyzes how China executed a plan to dominate green energy that the political left openly embraces. The second report, “Don’t allow the U.S. military to be hooked on green energy from China,” argues that America’s weakening energy system undermines our ability to deter China as a foe capable of a prolonged war, which is a serious risk to national security. The third report, “How the forced energy transition and reliance on China will harm America,” details how China dominates the global supply chain for green energy, increasing America’s reliance on the country as it pursues an energy transition. 

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy discussed the vast natural resources available in Alaska and the increasing military activity from Russia, which lies right across the Bering Strait. He said that the actions of the Biden-Harris administration against oil and gas development, as well as the timber and mining industries, is “handcuffing our ability to be part of the solution to America's problems, and that is making sure that we produce everything we can here in this country.” 

Dunleavy said that Alaska’s taxes on oil and gas production have benefited Arctic Iñupiat, Alaskan Native communities who live on the North Slope.  

“The life expectancy of those people has increased by 14 years since oil started flowing in the North Slope. Well, how could that be? Because now you're able to afford clinics, airports, schools, all of the modern amenities that we all enjoy, our folks on the North Slope now enjoy in the Arctic,” Dunleavy said. 

To illustrate the importance of good policy, Dunleavy compared Iceland to Venezuela. Iceland doesn’t have a lot of resources. It has no oil and no gold. When the Vikings first arrived on the island, Dunleavy said, they “wrecked the forests.” Yet, its per-capita GDP is among the highest in the world.

“What Icelanders have is a pretty good policy. So they put together whatever they have there, and they put it to good use,” Dunleavy said. 

That’s compared to Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves, and a wealth of other resources. Yet, its GDP collapsed after 2012.

“They did it to themselves, and that should be a lesson for America,” Dunleavy said.