Mining

The house voted yesterday to repeal the Biden regulation on public lands in Minnesota. In January 2023, the Biden administration enacted a 20-year ban on new copper-nickel mining on 225,000 acres of federal land in the MN iron range. According to the MN government website, the state has rich deposits of gold, silver, zinc, copper, nickel, titanium and other precious metals. Democrats opposed the measure arguing that it would open up MN land to development, casting aside safeguards for environmental protections. This is just one of the many situations that will arise as the US tries to become independent on strategic materials like rare earths. These metals are currently being mined in other countries, mostly in China, where the environment is not a concern. The NIMBY attitude of some in the United States overlooks the fact that the US mining industry is more concerned about the earth than companies in China. It is much like the US replacing coal with natural gas while China is building new coal plants. US companies are more concerned about the environment than companies in China. Bringing mining home to the US increases independence, shortens supply chains, aids in national defense and is more protective of the earth.