Elizabeth Warren suggested she’d be willing to allow some exceptions to the all-out ban on drilling and mining on public lands she’d impose as president.
“I think we should stop drilling and mining on public lands and all offshore drilling,” the Massachusetts senator said during Wednesday’s Democratic debate in Las Vegas. But she added she’d consider exceptions if “there are specific minerals that we have to have access to.”
Those exceptions, Warren said, would be crafted “not in a way that’s just about the profits of giant industries but in a way that is sustainable for the environment.”
Warren didn’t mention specific minerals, but minerals like lithium, cobalt, and copper are required for battery production, which would need to increase to support greater penetration of electric vehicles and large-scale battery storage critical to meeting the ambitious greenhouse gas plans put forth by Warren and her colleagues.
According to a State Department fact sheet from last year, 80% of the global supply chain of rare earth minerals like lithium and cooper is controlled by China.
“We cannot continue to let our public lands be used for profits for those who don’t care about our environment and are not making it better,” Warren added.
