Preserving our environment and protecting our air, soil, and water is a shared value among people of all political stripes. But the environmental policies the Biden administration has proposed would do significant harm to the economy and national security , as well as undermine well-meaning efforts to protect the environment.

America’s abundant, affordable supply of energy is the driving force that makes modern life possible. The Biden administration’s “rush to green” agenda threatens to disrupt this energy supply and give China and our international competitors the upper hand. Indeed, the negative economic and national security implications of President Joe Biden ’s “Green New Deal” future threaten our very way of life.

Those on the Left continue to scare the public about the supposed dangers of not immediately switching to a completely “green” energy system, but their policy ideas and solutions are unworkable and unaffordable and will cause great damage. The public deserves better than an extreme, rushed, trial-and-error approach to energy innovation.

The truth of the matter is simple: We’re far too reliant on China to sustain the Biden administration’s unquenchable thirst for a new “green” society. In fact, the United States is far more dependent on China to produce the critical materials needed to build electric vehicles and renewables than our nation ever was dependent on OPEC to supply our oil. America simply cannot sustain the Biden/Harris push for electric vehicles without dangerous reliance on China for the materials.

Just this month, House Republicans passed H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, to begin undoing the damage done to the energy sector by the Biden administration. This commonsense legislation would launch American innovation into the next frontier of energy independence and, in turn, guarantee we keep leading the world in reducing emissions. Within this legislation, for example, House Republicans prioritized investing in the mining and processing of critical materials necessary to build electric batteries here at home, but most Democrats voted against the bill.

There is no downside to investing in the manufacturing of renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines and solar panels, here at home. America’s robust manufacturing sector remains in compliance with the highest labor and environmental standards in the world, while China’s does not. China is notorious for exploiting slave labor, skirting environmental protocols, and ignoring countervailing trade laws to bolster its economy and bottom line. Yet these inconvenient facts are completely ignored by the loudest voices in the room driving the rush to renewables.

Another problem you won’t hear Democrats talk about is the challenge of disposing of electric car batteries, used solar panels, and windmill blades that produce hazardous waste at the end of their shelf lives.

Unless the Biden administration makes significant changes and decides to put America first, its green energy agenda cannot succeed without tremendous reliance on China. It’s time to take a step back and let American innovation lead us through the energy transition. The Biden administration and Democrats must accept the reality that the energy future they want, in the time frame in which they want it, is not in the best interests of the public. Rather, it’s a win for the Chinese Communist Party.

Bill Johnson is a U.S. representative for Ohio and is the chairman of the Environment, Manufacturing & Critical Materials Subcommittee.