Philip Rossetti writes in RealClearEnergy about the need to reduce our reliance on China for rare earth minerals.
- The United States is currently beholden to China for its source of critical minerals which power green technologies, cell phones, and fighter jets.
- China’s supply chain of rare earth minerals is largely dependent on slave labor and other unethical labor practices.
- While the U.S. has an abundant source of these minerals, permitting restrictions, excessive litigation, and political pressures have prevented any new mining and processing projects from being completed.
- Unless the U.S. implements necessary policy and permitting reforms, we will continue to be reliant on foreign nations (likely China) for the metals that are needed to advance clean energy.
“The ultimate point is that there is a wide gap between the way politicians, and even many analysts, enjoy talking about clean energy and what sort of policy would be needed to turn those hopes into reality. For the United States to become a dominant producer of clean energy, it will need to either significantly increase its imports of clean energy-related minerals, or it must find ways to make it easier to produce these minerals domestically. If the United States doesn’t take either of those steps, then it will probably continue to rely on the domestic energy sources in which it is already abundant, which are predominantly fossil fuels.”
Read the full article here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
