Biden Crony Capitalism or Trump Energy Dominance: Americans Have Chosen

Seldom have a few days of energy-related news provided a clearer illustration of the stark contrasts between the crony-capitalism-based energy policies of the Biden presidency and the American energy dominance policies to come during a second Trump term as the news from the past week.

On November 26, the Biden Department of Energy led by Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced an award of $6.6 billion to struggling electric vehicle maker Rivian in the form of a low-interest loan. The infusion of capital is designed to help the company finance a new Georgia-based plant with a production capacity of 400,000 cars per year. Rivian already operates a plant in Illinois capable of turning out 150,000 units annually.

So, what’s the problem, you might ask? Well, first, Rivian has, like every other US EV maker other than Tesla, consistently struggled financially. The company so badly missed its sales targets in 2023 that it was forced to discount prices and layoff workers to maintain its ability to service its existing debt load.