Sierra Club Endorses Critical Material TRACE Act of 2024

Act Aims to Enhance Transparency in Clean Energy Supply Chains of Electric Vehicles and Batteries

May 1, 2024

WASHINGTON, DC - The Sierra Club has endorsed the Critical Material Transparency and Reporting of Advanced Clean Energy (TRACE) Act. Introduced today in the US House of Representatives, Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Rep. Garret Graves' (R-LA) bipartisan bill aims to improve the transparency and reporting mechanisms within the advanced energy technology sector, developing a cleaner and more accountable critical mineral supply chain.

"Sierra Club is proud to endorse Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Rep. Garret Graves' (R-LA) Critical Material TRACE Act. Critical minerals are building blocks of the clean energy transition, and this effort is vital to ensure responsible sourcing in the rapid shift to clean vehicles," said Harry Manin, Deputy Legislative Director of Industrial Policy & Trade at Sierra Club. "This bipartisan bill emphasizes transparency, accountability, and recycling, so that the U.S. fosters a resilient energy transition decoupled from foreign adversaries, and creates pathways to stronger markets for supply chains that advance best environmental, human rights, and labor practices."

"We must ensure that the transition away from gas-powered vehicles to electric ones-which are necessary to mitigate the climate crisis at the speed we need- protects the health and human rights of people all along the supply chain. The recycling of EV batteries and strong labor standards is a huge part of this. While this work is underway, much more is needed, and this bill will help to get us there," said Will Anderson, Sierra Club's Deputy Legislative Director for Clean Transportation.

The Act establishes the Advanced Energy Technology Supply Chain Transparency Program. This program, overseen by the Secretary of Energy, will foster the development and adoption of voluntary digital battery identification systems to enhance accurate and robust implementation of IRA's Clean Vehicle Tax Credit. In addition to lending itself to a domestic, friend-shored, and just electric vehicle supply chain, these battery passports will be a boon to consumers. With the information they afford, safe and sustainable reuse of batteries and materials will be far more practical, further boosting the US's ability to decouple from economic competitors and adversaries implicated in human rights violations, labor abuses, and environmental degradation in the extraction and refining of critical materials.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.

Industrial Transformation, transportation