Economic development (as they call it) could be leading Tennessee towards the disastrous consequences of an industry doomed for failure.

We have been very vocal about the constitutional issues, amongst other problems, regarding our current state leadership’s drive to hand over our tax dollars to large corporations in the name of job creation and economic growth. The question we have posed is whether or not the state government should play a role in picking the winners and losers in any industry. Additionally, does the state have a duty to provide for a “return on investment” of your tax dollars? Where is that in the constitution?

The poster child for this discussion has been the almost $1 Billion dollar deal with the Ford Motor Company and their new Blue Oval City in West Tennessee. But you need to realize that there is a little more to the story.

This new megasite for Ford will not only be their single largest investment in any single production site in the world, it will also be the hub of manufacturing for Ford’s new fully electric F-150 truck. And from that, you must also recognize the trend of Tennessee’s push to be at the center of EV production. The state is not only banking on the future success of the EV industry, but we are significantly concentrating our economic development initiatives and the allocation of your tax money to subsidize the growth of this industry in our state, an industry that many conservatives believe is doomed for failure.

Aside from electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing, it has also just been announced that Tennessee will house the nation’s largest lithium refining plant to power EVs. Do we really understand the implications of what this means?

Not only is Tennessee’s economy being tied to a very new, unproven, and highly speculative industry, but consider the implications of being further tied to a global economy. The success of this industry and thereby the economic returns for our state will be directly tied to lithium mining around the world, a process known not only to be highly toxic with negative environmental implications but also known to be stressful to local economies around the world. And who has their hands in the middle of most of the lithium production in the world? The Chinese Communist Party.

But it is not only Ford’s largest EV plant, or the nation’s largest lithium refining plant coming to Tennessee. Per the article linked above, please take notice…

“The U.S. Department of Energy just announced $500 million in grants for three Tennessee projects related to battery manufacturing: a graphite plant in Chattanooga, a facility to create the “separators” between the electrodes of batteries in Clarksville and the lithium plant in Etowah.”

Tennesseans are forcibly being tied at the hip to the Green New Deal by state leadership and they are doing it with your tax money. And Governor Bill Lee is not shy about his excitement and desire to attract more EV activity to Tennessee. In a press conference regarding the new Tritium plant in Wilson County, Lee stated, “I welcome Tritium to Tennessee and thank the company for its commitment to create more than 500 new jobs in Wilson County. Our state’s highly-skilled workforce and position as a leader in the EV industry continue to attract companies like Tritium to Tennessee.”

This is no accident. The push to commit Tennessee’s future to the success of electric vehicles is calculated and intentional.

But it is more than the global ties and the dependency on China that concerns me (as if that’s not enough).

Just before the Ford deal went through, the TNECD struck another deal, this time in Maury County with a new $2 Billion dollar plant for Ultium Cells, another battery manufacturer who will supply batteries for Cadillac’s new EVs in Spring Hill. But with this venture, I want to draw your attention to something a little more behind the scenes.

You will notice something nefarious about most of these large corporations. Most of them push a radical and leftist agenda all tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). I previously wrote about this concerning the Ford deal and the sacrifice of Tennessee values on the altar of economic growth. Well, Ultium Cells is no different, except they may be even more committed to this agenda than Ford.

See on their website that front and center, they promote their “Social Impact” agenda. And on that website, you will find the following statements…

“Developing strategic partnerships with Hispanic and African-American organizations to work in tandem on tackling racial equity issues and creating solutions to address the economic opportunity gap.”

“Advocating internally and externally for a future with equity and inclusion for all.”

Anyone who has been paying attention understands what these statements really mean. The words equity and inclusion can almost always be tied to the Black Lives Matter movement (if you want to call it that) and the proliferation of the LGBTQ agenda on society as well as families.

But here is something incredibly interesting about Ultium Cells, and it is their President and CEO. His name is Kee Eun and he boasts a bachelor’s in Social Policy and Planning and a master’s in Social Economics from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Is it not incredibly interesting that the CEO of a manufacturing company has degrees in “social” planning and “social” economics? And it makes a lot of sense when you consider how front and center the social impact initiatives of this manufacturing company really are. Welcome to Maury County, Tennessee?

On one hand, our GOP supermajority leadership here in Tennessee claims to promote and defend conservative values. And when the Daily Wire exposed the child mutilation that was happening at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville, the Governor and his cohorts came riding in on a white horse eager to fight against the evils coming against our children. But the fact is, their economic development initiatives are bringing into Tennessee corporations who are global leaders in pushing these agendas that lead to all of the cultural nonsense we are continually fighting. And we are subsidizing it with our tax dollars. Isn’t that the definition of insanity?

I contend that the economic initiatives of this Governor are leading our state down a very dangerous path on many fronts. We are heavily investing in and banking on an industry that many fear is doomed for failure. We are increasing the dependence of our economic stability on global markets and specifically, China. And we are subsidizing companies who possess values antithetical to any conservative platform and are working to proselytize our communities with their woke gospel.

Wake up Tennessee. This is happening right under our noses and the clock is ticking.

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