US authorises DPA to simulate investments in clean technologies

US president Joe Biden has authorised the use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to stimulate investments in clean technologies such as solar panel parts, insulation, heat pumps, clean fuels and critical power infrastructure. According to the announcement: "In deploying the DPA, the Biden-Harris administration will strongly encourage the use of strong labor standards, including project labor agreements and community benefits agreements that offer wages at or above the prevailing rate and include local hire provisions". The DPA could also signal a willingness to embrace clean energy technology as a strategic economic objective in the US. If so, it would mean strategic autonomy and supply chain resilience could be objectives that the government focuses on. Similar strategic rhetoric has surrounded the renewables industry in China, which begs the question: could renewables become a part of the on-going economic rivalry between the US and China?