Recently, the House of Representatives took an important step forward to help the United States regain its competitive edge, passing legislation designed to accelerate the domestic development of critical minerals. If the Senate follows suit, it will send an even stronger message to our adversaries that America can and will use domestic sources of the raw materials needed to grow our 21st-century economy.
It may have escaped notice in the heartland, but for much of the past year, China imposed export restrictions on various rare earth elements and critical minerals. By forbidding overseas entities from obtaining these materials as part of broader Sino-American trade disputes, the Chinese government effectively held much of the global economy hostage.
In recent decades, China has established a chokehold on many of the mining and refining operations that produce critical minerals. These elements go into the products that define our modern economy, from drones and missile guidance systems to cars and computer hard drives. Without a consistent, reliable supply of these critical minerals, many of the businesses that power our economic growth would soon come to a halt.
Our company, Graphite One, seeks to return a domestic presence to a sector in which the United States has become 100% dependent on imports. Countless American companies rely on graphite, the largest component of lithium-ion batteries. Yet all of those companies must depend upon other nations, including possible adversaries such as China, to supply the needs of their businesses.
Our company is currently developing the Graphite Creek deposit in Alaska — the largest graphite deposit in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world — to provide American companies with a completely domestic-based supply chain for this critical mineral.
The legislation that the House passed will help Graphite One and other domestic producers focus on developing American resources of critical minerals. It directs the Interior Department to analyze the economic impact of our nation’s current dependence on imports of critical minerals, demonstrating the stakes for all to see.
Other portions of the bill, titled the Critical Mineral Dominance Act, direct the Interior Department to identify priority projects that can be approved immediately, take all necessary steps to approve these projects, and report to Congress with recommendations to remove barriers to production. The bill also requires a review of possible exploration projects on federal land, the removal of actions that may hinder development of domestic mining, and detailed, geologic mapping of the U.S., so that we can determine what natural resources lie below our feet.
TRUMP’S CRITICAL MINERAL STOCKPILE IS LONG PAST DUE
Critics may claim that the exploration contemplated by this bill would pollute the environment or harm our nation’s waters and wildlife. But preventing mineral exploration in the U.S. would not reduce demand for these important elements. Instead, production would remain in countries like China, with far poorer environmental records and protections, and make American businesses vulnerable to economic extortion in the process. We can develop our own resources safely — indeed, more safely than the People’s Republic of China — while protecting both the environment and American businesses that are desperate for these materials.
A strong bipartisan majority in the House has endorsed this important measure to bring production of critical minerals back to the U.S. Here’s hoping that the Senate follows suit, so that this bill can get enacted into law without delay.
Anthony Huston is the president & CEO of Graphite One, Inc.
