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U.S. Energy secretary talks renewables, raw materials and climate change during Ames lab visit

A sign says Ames National Laboratory on a cement building with staircases leading to the lower and upper levels.
Madeleine Charis King
/
Iowa Public Radio
Researchers at the Ames National Lab are developing processes to extract and reuse rare earth elements from electronic waste.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright praised the Ames National Laboratory during a tour Thursday, calling it one of the country’s “premier scientific institutions” and a leader in reshoring critical materials. Wright also said he supports less federal funding for wind and solar, and downplayed findings from government reports about climate change.

Iowa State University operates the lab located on its campus. The Ames Lab is also one of 17 Department of Energy laboratories in the U.S.

“Our mission at Ames National Laboratory is to deliver critical material solutions to the nation,” said Director Karl Mueller. “We do it through innovating for science and for industry, and we translate our fundamental discoveries into new technologies for actual energy dominance.”

The lab was born out of the Manhattan Project during World War II. Researchers at Iowa State University figured out how to produce highly pure uranium metal, a key ingredient for the atomic bomb.

Materials science has remained a core research area for the Ames Lab, said Mueller. One of its most prominent inventions is lead-free solder, which is used in billions of computers, cellphones and other electronics.

Researchers are also developing processes to extract and reuse rare earth elements from electronic waste. These critical materials are used in smart phones, wind turbines and medical equipment, along with missiles and jet fighter engines.

People stand in a lab wearing safety goggles.
Courtesy of Ames National Laboratory; U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Ohio Rep. Bob Latta and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst listen to a presentation during a tour of the Ames National Laboratory at Iowa State University.

Wright said the U.S. relies too heavily on other countries to supply and process critical materials. China produces around 60% of the world’s rare earth elements and refines nearly 90%.

“That's become a national defense problem for us. It's become a medical problem for us in times of crisis,” Wright said. “Ames Laboratory here is a leader in bringing these technologies and these capabilities back to our country.”

The DOE recently announced it will invest $1 billion to advance mining, processing and manufacturing technologies across the critical mineral and material supply chain.

Wright was joined by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashely Hinson, along with Ohio Republican Rep. Bob Latta and Arkansas Republican Rep. Bruce Westerman.

“I highly encourage mining and refinement here in the United States. For our benefit, I want to be less reliant upon China,” Ernst said.

A woman in a black blazer talks into a microphone.
Madeleine Charis King
/
Iowa Public Radio
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst speaks during a press event at the Ames National Laboratory, next to U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Ohio Rep. Bob Latta and Arkansas Rep. Bruce Westerman.

Westerman pointed out that Alaska alone has 49 of the 50 minerals defined by the U.S. Geological Survey as critical to national security and economic stability.

“When you're talking about refining of minerals and processing, there's only one [refinery] processing in the Western Hemisphere, only one,” Miller-Meeks said, referring to Mountain Pass in California. “That's another national security threat to the United States.”

New priorities and funding cuts

The DOE’s budget request for the next fiscal year is $46.32 billion, with a nearly 26% reduction for non-defense energy programs.

The deepest cuts are for renewable energy, specifically wind, solar and hydrogen, which had received a significant boost with the Inflation Reduction Act under the Biden administration.

“I'm for all energy technologies that contribute to our system, but wind, solar and batteries provide 3% of the United States energy, yet the majority of the budget at the Department of Energy, that's just nonsensical,” Wright said.

According to the global energy think tank Ember, wind and solar last year provided a combined 17% of U.S. energy, surpassing coal for the first time.

Wright said the agency will still invest in next-generation solar technologies and batteries.

A wind turbine stands against a bright blue sky with clouds.
Rachel Cramer
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Iowa Public Radio
Iowa State Fair Wind Turbine is operated by MidAmerican Energy. Iowa was named the most competitive energy state in a 2025 report from the Common Sense Institute.

“But we need to get nuclear energy going again. We have next-generation geothermal arriving now,” Wright said. “We have to stabilize our electricity grid. We need to get away from the nonsense that somehow we're not going to use fossil fuels in the near future.”

Wright and Iowa’s lawmakers also expressed support for the phase-out of tax credits for wind and solar under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Ernst agreed with Wright that wind and solar are maturing industries that no longer need federal subsidies.

Around 60% of Iowa’s net generation of electricity comes from wind energy. It’s the highest share of any state.

Earlier this year, Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy proposed large-scale wind and solar projects, which could add a combined 1,800 megawatts of power.

Ernst said discussions are ongoing with the administration to ensure projects started in Iowa qualify for tax credits before they expire next July.

Funding for national labs

The DOE’s budget request online Wednesday showed $17.5 million for the Ames National Lab. It indicated a 65% drop from the 2025 enacted levels and a 57% reduction from the 2024 enacted levels.

When IPR asked about the proposed budget cut Thursday morning at the Ames Lab, DOE staff said the document did not reflect the most recent numbers.

“We need to shrink our spending of the government,” Wright said. “But the smallest, and potentially no cuts will be to the broader national laboratory complex. These are investments in our future.”

A seal on a podium features a bald eagle and symbols on energy, including the sun, an atom and a wind turbine.
Madeleine Charis King
The U.S. Department of Energy seal sticks to a podium at Ames National Laboratory in Ames, IA on 08/15/2025.

A DOE spokesperson said in a statement Thursday afternoon that the administration's latest proposal for the 2026 fiscal year includes $47.4 million for the Ames lab, which would be a 4% decrease from 2025 and a 17% increase compared to 2024.

The Laboratory Tables document on the DOE's website was updated to reflect the latest budget proposal.

Wright said he has been a champion of the national labs, but implied some may focus on “more critical issues.” The department is looking for “more efficiency and improvement” and “meaningfully more throughput,” he said.

Climate change

This summer, National Climate Assessment disappeared from government websites, including the DOE's. The 1990 Global Change Research Act requires these reports at least every four years to analyze trends and effects from climate change.

On July 29, DOE released a new report evaluating peer-reviewed literature and government data. The report: “concludes CO2-induced warming appears to be less damaging economically than commonly believed, and that aggressive mitigation strategies may be misdirected.”

Five scientists selected by Wright authored the report.

Thousands of scientists and experts have contributed to the five National Climate Assessments. They have consistently found the U.S. is experiencing more frequent and severe weather events, resulting in more billion-dollar disasters.

People in blazers and dresses stand in a line in front of several flags.
Madeleine Charis King
/
Iowa Public Radio
From left to right: Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson, Ames National Laboratory Director Karl Mueller, Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, Ohio Rep. Bob Latta and Arkansas Rep. Bruce Westerman at Ames National Laboratory on 08/15/2025.

Wright, the former CEO of Liberty Engineering, one of the largest fracking companies in the world, is not a climate denier.

“It's a true physical phenomenon, but it's just not even close to the world's greatest problem. And we've been using it as a cudgel to make energy more expensive, to export jobs overseas, to make kids have nightmares when they wake up,” Wright said. “And a lot of young people [do] not want to have children because they think the world's going to be terrible and dangerous going forward.”

In May, the DOE said it would rescind $3.7 billion in previously obligated funding for 24 projects primarily focused on carbon capture and sequestration and decarbonization. These technologies aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to climate change.

Rachel Cramer is IPR's Harvest Public Media Reporter, with expertise in agriculture, environmental issues and rural communities. She's covered water management, food security, nutrition and sustainability efforts among other topics for Yellowstone Public Radio, The Guardian, WGBH and currently for IPR. Cramer is a graduate of the University of Montana and Iowa State University.