The demand for Rare Earth Elements is growing as the world transitions to cleaner energy sources. Rare Earth Magnets are used in electric cars, wind turbines and other evolving technology. Regulations and environmental concerns have slowed production of magnets in the U.S. as China ramped up its manufacturing with fewer workplace standards.
“We have a very high standard of ethics that we subscribe to and we maintain within our industry,” Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration president Marc LeVier said. “This is not our grandfather’s mining companies anymore. These companies are high tech and there’s a lot of regulations in place that we comply with.”
From the mid-1960s through mid-1980s, the U.S. was largely self-sufficient in manufacturing Rare Earth Elements. When the U.S. began implementing environmental regulations, nearly all domestic rare earth mining operations ended. Other countries – including China – stepped up to fill in the market gap.
“When we talk about the carbon intensity of producing something, it starts with the energy used to mine things like minerals or for that matter, any other fuel source, and then how that fuel source is used,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said. “All of it is highly intensive pollution in China and it’s much less intensive in the United States. That gets back to the proven fact and why we want to demonstrate this advantage that the polluters have over us.”
“This has exposed other vulnerabilities we need to take care of. We’re in the process of doing it. But of course, you can’t do it with the snap of your fingers,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. “China is actively trying to sabotage other sources of these rare earth elements because they realize what a competitive advantage it is to have us dependent on them.”
Demand for Rare Earth Elements is expected to rise 40% in the next two decades as additional wind turbines power businesses and homes, and more electric cars hit the road.
“I think a lot of people in the United States are waking up to that now and realizing, Well, what do you mean we’re going to open more mines in order to have an energy transition?” LeVier said. “We’ve got a great opportunity. And we can we can get it done with the minerals we have here in the United States.”
Bret Baier currently serves as FOX News Channel’s (FNC) anchor and executive editor of Special Report with Bret Baier (weeknights at 6-7PM/ET), chief political anchor of the network and co-anchor of the network’s election coverage. Baier is also host of FOX News Audio’s “The Bret Baier Podcast” which includes Common Ground and The All-Star Panel. He joined FNC in 1998 as the first reporter in the Atlanta bureau and is now based in Washington, D.C.
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