White House Attacks U.S. Production of Energy and Critical Minerals
This year, Biden moved to stop a key source of uranium near the Grand Canyon. In January, he announced a 20-year moratorium on mining in Northern Minnesota. He recently cut energy leases in Alaska.
Both energy and critical mineral mining have been hit.
The Western Congressional Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) has been sharply critical, noting “The United States is the number one consumer of critical minerals, yet it continues to rely on importing them from foreign sources—who often use slave labor to extract from the Earth. By trying to shut down domestic mining, the Biden Administration is forcing us to source these raw materials from countries with little to no environmental standards—many of whom are not our allies. is an attack on our way of life,” said Western Caucus Vice Chair Pete Stauber (MN-08). “Joe Biden banned mining in 225,000 acres of Minnesota’s Iron Range, and locked up development of taconite, copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum-group elements, and more. Unfortunately, this harm to our country and our future has become the norm, as this president’s goal is to put America last. Not even one month ago, Joe Biden signed an agreement to fund mining projects in Chinese-owned mines in the Congo, where over 40,000 children work as slaves in forced labor and inhumane conditions with no environmental protections. Meanwhile today’s mining ban nullifies a Project Labor Agreement with the local building and construction trade unions. America needs to develop our vast mineral wealth, right here at home, with high-wage, union protected jobs instead of continuing to send American taxpayer dollars to countries like the Congo that use child slave labor. The only winner here is China, as Joe Biden continues to hand our foreign adversaries every advantage possible. I can assure you that this administration, from the president to the Forest Service, to the Interior Department, will answer for the pain they elected to cause my constituents today.”
“If Democrats were serious about developing renewable energy sources and breaking China’s stranglehold on the global market, they would be flinging open the doors to responsible mineral development here in the U.S.,” said House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman and Western Caucus Vice Chair Bruce Westerman (AR-04). “We cannot have a future of renewable energy without minerals, period – not to mention their necessity to our defense systems, satellites, cellphones and virtually every other advanced technology. While Democrats play political ping pong with American industries, China and Russia are laughing straight to the bank. The administration’s decision to withdraw this mineral-rich area – blatantly targeting one of our country’s most promising mines – is short-sighted, foolish and completely unscientific. Unfortunately, President Biden doesn’t seem to mind if Minnesota mining communities and the entire American economy pay the price.”
The U.S. Energy Information Administration notes that The market for minerals that help power electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and other technologies key to the clean energy transition has doubled in size over the past five years, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency.
Media reports have sharply criticized the White House policy. In March, the New York Post noted that “President Joe Biden claims he wants America to lead in ‘clean energy’ production, but he’s again blocking American producers from developing the critical, rare-earth minerals to make it happen…The federal government owns huge chunks of America’s West, home to critical minerals like lithium essential to technologies like electric-vehicle batteries — yet Biden blocks their development beneath federal lands.”
Earlier this year, a furious Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) noted how Biden’s energy policy has helped China while harming America. “Time and again, Joe Biden’s energy policies have hurt America and have helped China. On Joe Biden’s first day in office, he shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline, and I think he did it for spite. “It would have brought 800,000 barrels of oil to this country every single day. “Joe Biden then stopped all new energy leases on federal land, and in Wyoming we have a lot of federal land. “He did it in a way that was blatantly illegal. A federal judge actually ordered Joe Biden to follow the law, to sell energy leases. Follow the law.”
Oliver Mcpherson-Smith, writing for The Hill, summarizes the issue succinctly: “President Joe Biden prioritizes fossil fuel extraction in foreign dictatorships rather than on American shores. Unfortunately, this energy NIMBY-ism isn’t limited to the oil and gas industries. Recently released data reveals how the president’s opposition to domestic mining maintains China’s supply chain domination of the critical minerals needed for renewable energy technology.”
Frank Vernuccio serves as editor-chief of the NY Analysis of Policy and Government
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