The new chair of the Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee is, like most of his Republican colleagues, a skeptic of renewable energy and environmental regulations. He is particularly focused on combating China.

Gary Palmer, an Alabama Republican representing the state’s “graphite belt” since 2014, has a laser focus on policies that will lessen dependence on what he believes is the United States’ greatest adversary. That has translated advocacy for bolstering domestic production of critical minerals, a key U.S. vulnerability with China.

Palmer isn’t changing direction after getting a new gavel earlier this month. He said he’s planning to center all of the panel’s work, whether it be on permitting or addressing rising energy demand, toward the ultimate goal of outcompeting China.

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“It should be a top priority for the administration as well as Congress to address all of these issues in case things go awry with China at some point down the road,” Palmer said. “We cannot be cut off from the things that our military depends on, the economy depends on, and that’s true of the entire Western Hemisphere.”