Biden invokes Defense Production Act to expand domestic solar panel production

President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act on Monday to accelerate domestic production of solar panel parts and other clean energy technologies, which will allegedly help expand American clean energy manufacturing, according to White House officials.

A reporter asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during Monday's press brief why the domestic production of solar panels would constitute as an emergency in the United States, in which Jean-Pierre responded that it would help "tackle the climate crisis."

"The President, you know, when he takes the Defense Production Act, it's to make sure that he's delivering for the American people. It is an important tool that he has used a couple of times and has been incredibly effective," Jean-Pierre said.

"For this particular clean energy Defense Production Act, he is invoking the Defense Production Act to rapidly expand domestic production of solar panel parts, building insulation, heat pumps, and more. He is putting the full force of the federal government's purchasing power behind supporting American clean energy manufacturers, and he is providing US solar deployers the short-term stability they need to build clean energy projects and deliver more affordability energy to American families and business," Jean-Pierre explained. "Altogether, these historic actions will cut costs for American families, strengthen our power grid, and tackle the climate crisis."

The White House press secretary said that "with a stronger clean energy arsenal, the United States can be an even stronger partner to our allies, especially in the face of Putin's war in Ukraine."

Not providing a direct answer to the reporter's question, the reporter asked again why the production of solar panels would be an emergency. Jean-Pierre explained that it's an "important part of the President's agenda in getting to that clean energy system that he's been talking about since he walked into the administration."

Despite the exponential growth of the US solar industry over the past couple of years, the industry is not on pace to reach Biden's goal of a net carbon-neutral energy sector by 2035–which is why the Biden administration wants to ramp up production.

Production for the solar panel industry was recently frozen amid a legally required trade investigation after a US solar panel manufacturer complained that Chinese solar manufacturers had been improperly funneling parts through four other Asian countries, according to NPR.

Through the deployment of the Defense Production Act, the Biden administration will override the Commerce Department tariff investigation which effectively froze solar power production in the United States.