U.S. needs critical minerals, says new House bills
The U.S. needs to produce more critical minerals domestically, rather than sourcing them from overseas. A pair of House bills introduced last week recognizes the problem.
S.5039 and S.5030 would “force the federal government to develop a national strategy to spur U.S. production of the critical minerals needed to build a clean energy economy,” according to E&E News.
S.5030, the “National Critical Minerals Council Act,” would establish a National Critical Minerals Council chaired by the vice president. S.5039, the “Unearth Innovation Act,” would create an innovation program within the Department of Energy to “drive research, development and commercialization of advanced mining, recycling and processing technologies.”
The bills were introduced last Friday by Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Hickenlooper in an interview last week said, “China continues to corner markets that are essential to our future technology and our future innovation. So this is one of those rare places in Congress [where] the self interest for Republicans and Democrats is clearly aligned. We all need more and reliable sources for lithium, for copper, for nickel.”
They’re right — the U.S. desperately needs to loosen its reliance on China, which dominates most mineral supply chains from mining to processing. China mines 60 percent of rare earth materials and processes nearly 90 percent, giving it a near-monopoly over some minerals necessary for EV batteries. China also doesn’t hesitate to wield its supply chain dominance against the U.S. As recently as August, it announced export restrictions on antimony, which is used in military applications. The U.S. relies on China for 63 percent of its antimony.
Whether new councils and programs will be effective depends on how well they coordinate efforts from federal government departments and agencies. The American Battery Materials Initiative, established in 2022, offers a cautionary tale: “it took a year to choose its leader and the initiative has yet to announce any action.” But it’s promising that Congress is putting more attention on the U.S.’ alarming dependence on foreign countries for the minerals it needs for the economy and national defense.
