Washington, D.C. — Amid a major infrastructure fight in Congress and as the Biden administration works to promote renewable energy technologies, the American Economic Liberties Project released a new report, “A Better Foundation: Addressing Consolidation in the Cement and Concrete Industries to Secure Low-Carbon Alternatives.” The report analyzes the structure of the cement and concrete industries, and documents the structural barriers preventing innovative companies from producing greener products.

The cement industry alone accounts for upwards of eight percent of global carbon emissions. But while most cement incumbents acknowledge the need to reduce emissions, the consolidated nature of the industry minimizes their incentive to innovate. And though newer companies are developing green alternatives, there are signs that dominant firms and powerful corporations owned by Big Oil and Big Tech are acquiring or investing in these smaller, cleaner companies merely to thwart them or to lock up intellectual property.

To build a stronger, more innovative, and more competitive cement and concrete market, government enforcers and regulators must scrutinize these industries and policymakers must create demand for low-carbon products by requiring federal, state, and local procurement officials and engineers to move to cleaner cement and concrete. Without meaningful steps to decarbonize these industries, the U.S. will not reach net-zero carbon emissions — and policymakers will lock the nation onto a higher-emissions pathway for decades to come.

Read “A Better Foundation: Addressing Consolidation in the Cement and Concrete Industries to Secure Low-Carbon Alternatives” here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.