By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters] – The U.S. president Joe Biden might invoke a Cold War-era law of defense as soon as next week, to support domestic production minerals necessary to manufacture the batteries for electric cars.

According to the Defense Production Act, such an order will enable mining companies that extract lithium, nickel, graphite, cobalt, and manganese to obtain government funding.

According to the source, “As our dependence on foreign oil sources and decreases, we need to make sure that we obtain the raw materials needed for clean energy economies in a manner that maintains our strong environmental and labor engagement standards as well as does not leave us dependent on unreliable foreign supply chains.”

Biden made it a key part of his economic plan to combat climate change as well as encourage domestic manufacturing with electric vehicles. According to administration officials, the nation’s dependence upon fossil fuels comes from Russia and other countries.

However, securing sufficient raw materials for electric vehicle batteries was a significant challenge. Domestic mines face numerous regulatory obstacles and opposition from the environment.

Biden’s domestic agenda for climate change has been blocked by the U.S. Congress where his Democratic Party holds a narrow majority.

Biden would have to use the Defense Production Act only for minerals. This is in addition to the regulatory and legal obstacles imposed on mine projects by the administration. The Defense Production Act would not allow for direct purchases or loans.

Miners can instead tap into funds to fund feasibility studies and modernization efforts at their facilities.

Biden made extensive use of the Defense Production Act. He used it for the stimulus of manufacturing supplies needed to respond to COVID-19.