America's mineral dependence is dangerous and unnecessary |
America’s mineral dependence is dangerous and unnecessary
America is not heavily dependent on oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, yet disruption there has still shocked our economy. Imagine the consequences if we were more dependent.
In critical minerals, that vulnerability is real: The U.S. is heavily import-reliant for dozens of minerals essential to modern life. For several of them, more than half of America’s supply comes from countries vulnerable to conflict or regional turmoil, including China, Mexico and South Africa. A future disruption in or near these countries could send prices soaring, hurting everyday Americans.
But this vulnerability is largely optional: America has substantial deposits of many of the very minerals it imports from abroad. Yet Washington makes it extraordinarily difficult to develop those resources.
New research from Pacific Legal Foundation shows how overlapping federal permitting regimes delay and sometimes outright prevent domestic mineral production. The result is a mine permitting process that is painfully slow, costly and uncertain. On average, it takes 29 years to open a new mine in the U.S., longer than anywhere in the world except Zambia.
In cases of extraordinary delay, the problem is usually not any one statute alone, but the cumulative effect........