{"id":1621036,"date":"2022-08-25T17:50:26","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T21:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1621036"},"modified":"2022-08-25T17:50:46","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T21:50:46","slug":"biden-shops-for-critical-minerals-in-canada-while-shutting-down-mining-projects-on-american-soil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-shops-for-critical-minerals-in-canada-while-shutting-down-mining-projects-on-american-soil\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Shops For Critical Minerals In Canada While Shutting Down Mining Projects On American Soil"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-shops-for-critical-minerals-in-canada-while-shutting-down-mining-projects-on-american-soil%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1621036&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Joe Biden is looking north for critical mineral supplies to meet government-inflated demand for clean-energy initiatives while the administration shuts down major mining projects on American soil. <\/p>\n<p>In March, the president invoked the Defense Production Act to expedite the expansion of U.S. mining operations behind lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and manganese as demand rises for the raw materials. Not only are the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/FR-2022-02-24\/pdf\/2022-04027.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">critical minerals<\/a> central to the administration\u2019s subsidized wind and solar farms, but they are essential for defense technologies and popular products from cell phones to laptops. <\/p>\n<p>Biden triggered the Cold War-era law to reconfigure supply chains of critical minerals away from dependence on China, which <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/05\/even-this-left-wing-report-sounds-the-alarm-u-s-is-way-too-dependent-on-communist-china-for-minerals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dominates<\/a> refining capacity and production of rare earth elements. The president invoking the Defense Production Act offers federal financial assistance to \u201cdomestic\u201d projects securing American mineral supplies, and in June, the administration published a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/CANADA-U.S.-SUPPLY-CHAINS-PROGRESS-REPORT.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> identifying Canada as a \u201cdomestic source\u201d under the Defense Production Act. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cCanada is a preferred partner of the United States with critical mineral resources and expertise that could be leveraged to expand processing capacity and the manufacturing of intermediate and final goods, further strengthening North American supply chains,\u201d read the report.<\/p>\n<p>Debra Struhsacker, a hardrock mining and environmental policy expert who has testified before Congress five times, called the effort to finance Canadian mines in lieu of American producers unnecessary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbsolutely we do not need to finance Canadian operations,\u201d Struhsacker told The Federalist, when \u201cwe have abundant minerals in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Struhsacker highlighted Nevada\u2019s mass deposits of lithium, in particular, for which a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/reports\/global-supply-chains-of-ev-batteries\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> from the International Energy Agency projected demand will skyrocket to meet governments\u2019 electric vehicle ambitions. According to that organization, there is no viable substitute for lithium to manufacture electric car batteries, and as Struhsacker pointed out, Nevada\u2019s lucrative reserves set up the state to be a \u201cdomestic powerhouse for lithium production.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Struhsacker also pointed to Minnesota\u2019s Twin Metals project as a \u201cworld-class deposit of both nickel and copper.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Republican Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents the district in northern Minnesota where the White House blocked the mine, blasted the administration\u2019s plans to finance Canadian mining projects while hampering U.S. production as  \u201cinsulting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t say I\u2019m surprised since Biden has repeatedly indicated he prefers foreign labor mining for minerals instead of Americans, even though he claims to support American mining,\u201d Stauber told The Federalist. \u201cNow he wants to use American taxpayer money to build even more wealth abroad, not at home. \u2026 We need the political will to mine here, but yet again President Biden is caving to radical activists to continue to mine abroad instead of ensuring our mineral security and dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A report from the liberal Brookings Institution <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/05\/even-this-left-wing-report-sounds-the-alarm-u-s-is-way-too-dependent-on-communist-china-for-minerals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">published<\/a> earlier this month raised the alarm about America\u2019s reliance on Chinese mineral supply chains, as tension between the two nations crescendos, jeopardizing national security. <\/p>\n<p>The report, titled \u201cChina\u2019s Role in Supplying Critical Minerals for the Global Energy Transition,\u201d urged Western policymakers to accelerate reforms of regulatory mining regimes to meet rising demand as current supply chains remain vulnerable to Beijing\u2019s influence. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina is the dominant global player in refining strategic minerals,\u201d the authors wrote. Chinese operations refine 68 percent of the world\u2019s nickel, 40 percent of the world\u2019s copper, 59 percent of lithium, and 73 percent of cobalt. \u201cMost notably, China holds 78 percent of the world\u2019s cell manufacturing capacity for [electric vehicle] batteries, which are then assembled into modules that are used to form a battery pack.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Struhsacker stressed the need to expand U.S. mining operations and even coordinate with allied nations such as Canada to rid American supply chains of Chinese reliance. She added, however, that the administration doesn\u2019t need to finance projects beyond American borders with U.S. tax dollars. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we should keep our financial resources in the U.S. to help stimulate development of U.S. mineral deposits,\u201d Struhsacker told The Federalist. <\/p>\n<p>One state the administration has continued to overlook for mining development takes up a third of the country and boasts a 1,500-mile border directly across a strait from the nation White House officials now want to pay for critical minerals. Alaska, according to a March report from the University of Alaska Anchorage, \u201ccould produce 100 percent or more of current US production of cobalt, silver, and graphite, and over 90 percent of current zinc production.\u201d The state also has the potential to \u201cproduce significant amounts of several minerals identified as \u2018critical\u2019 to domestic industrial supply chains by the United States Geological Survey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rick Whitbeck, the Alaskan state director for the energy nonprofit Power the Future, described Alaska as a \u201cgigantic vein of opportunity all the way up and down the state\u201d where \u201cwe probably could sustain certain mineral needs for centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With more than <a href=\"https:\/\/sgp.fas.org\/crs\/misc\/R42346.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">60 percent<\/a> of Alaska under federal ownership, however, the state has become a primary target of the Biden administration\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/priorities\/america-the-beautiful\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">initiative<\/a> to lock down 30 percent of U.S. land and water from future development by 2030.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden administration\u2019s move to finance Canadian operations over U.S. suppliers runs parallel to the White House\u2019s efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/04\/06\/oops-biden-wants-to-import-more-canadian-oil-but-he-killed-the-keystone-pipeline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">import more<\/a> Canadian oil after gutting the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would have accomplished exactly that. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Joe Biden is looking north for critical mineral supplies to meet government-inflated demand for clean-energy initiatives while the administration shuts down major mining projects on American soil. In<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":1621047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1621036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1621036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1621047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1621036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1621036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1621036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}