BESSEMER CITY, North Carolina, Nov 30 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen traveled to North Carolina on Thursday to tout hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy investments enabled by federal tax incentives as President Joe Biden struggles to win credit among voters for his economic record.Yellen toured a Livent (LTHM.N) facility in Bessemer City, North Carolina, that processes lithium hydroxide, a key ingredient in electric vehicle (EV) batteries.The plant near Charlotte has increased its capacity by 50% in recent years due to increased demand for EVs, stoked in part by tax credits of up to $7,500 in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The project and others like it are adding cutting edge technology to an area hard hit when legacy industries like textiles left for other countries.Yellen, who spoke in front of one-ton bags of lithium hydroxide powder at a Livent warehouse, said the “battery belt” arising across the U.S. Midwest and South showed the administration’s strategy is working and contributing to current low rates of unemployment and ongoing economic growth.