The rush to influence lawmakers and agencies is evidence of the challenges and opportunities involved in meeting the president’s goal of seeing zero-emission vehicles make up half of new car and truck sales by 2030. Along with that target, the administration and Congress are pushing for a vast expansion of North America’s ability to provide the minerals and batteries for those vehicles — a supply chain that China now dominates. “There’s a real frenzy of activity and a genuine excitement in the manufacturing spaces that were very precarious investments a short time ago,” said Mike Carr, a former Hill aide...