Biden’s Green New Deal won’t work without mining, especially for rare earth elements
As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take the reins of government and launch their program to “transition” America away from fossil fuels, they need to consider some hard realities. Chief among them is that no Green New Deal can succeed without major increases in US mining and processing – unless they want to make America even more dependent on China and Russia.
Rare-earth metals are essential to 21st Century technologies, including smartphones, lasers, night vision systems, weapons guidance systems – and GND technologies like wind turbines, solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles. As British hedge fund veteran James Horrocks noted in a recent article, “It is easy to see why rare earths have become a pawn in the US-China trade war.”
Trump moves to loosen mining regulations, approve projects as he exits
Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is moving to loosen mining regulations and green light new mineral projects before leaving office this month, with successor Joe Biden unable to reverse some of the changes.
Administration officials tell Reuters they plan to publish a raft of decisions on Jan. 15 that will expand miners’ access to federal lands, give final approval to Lithium Americas Corp’s Nevada lithium mine and approve a land swap for a Rio Tinto Ltd Arizona copper mining project, among other steps.
Biden will be able to reverse some of Trump’s changes, especially proposed rules under regulatory review. But some of Trump’s steps will either be irreversible or require Biden to restart the rule-making process, a years-long effort, which is a concern to environmentalists.
Administration officials tell Reuters they plan to publish a raft of decisions on Jan. 15 that will expand miners access to federal lands, give final approval to Lithium Americas Corp s Nevada lithium mine and approve a land swap for a Rio Tinto Ltd Arizona copper mining project, among other steps.