Rare earths

In 1949 a deposit of rare earth metals was discovered in Mountain View, CA. The mine was developed and between 1965 and 1995 produced the worlds largest quantities of rare earths. China came on the market with low prices and that along with environmental concerns shut down the operation. Today China produces 85% of the worlds supply of rare earths. The mines in China are polluting the ground water and threatening the Yellow river which is the drinking water supply for millions. This is of little concern to the new green deal people and perhaps they know nothing about mining rare earths. The US government is now concerned and is funding the reopening of the Mountain View mine. Their concern is based around the fact that these metals are needed for modern military equipment. Things like wind mills and solar panels compete for these metals along with all of the modern tech things consumers use like TV's and cell phones. These metals represent only one of the many reasons to bring mining and manufacturing back home to protect our supply chains.