GOP & Dems Swallow Mining Canary Canard

WSJ called out BOTH parties in “The Canary in the Pebble Mine” for “rare mineral independence” rhetoric while blocking new mineral projects on environmental grounds … so US stays vulnerable to foreign extortion.

Argued the editorial board: “Politicians are demanding that the US become more self-sufficient in crucial metals and minerals, but then they block domestic mining at every opportunity, many of which are essential to transitioning the American economy to alternative energy. Alaska’s Pebble Mine project [involving gold & copper, key to EV battery manufacturing] is the latest to join the casualty list” & is “a textbook example of why the US is vulnerable to foreign mineral & mining extortion.” It’s a long op ed, but suffice it to say both GOP & Dem politicians are playing the political shell game with energy independence & environmental protection advocates in this & similar projects in the works. “There’s always the next excuse,” the paper notes, politicians fall back on when the next project hits the front pages. Why? Because they always HAVE.

As a result, we face a never-changing situation in which “minerals and metals will still be mined, but in countries with far fewer environmental protections such as Indonesia, Republic of Congo & China.” The editors suggest: “The next time a politician bemoans America’s supply-chain vulnerability, ask which specific mining project he [or she] supports.”

Davd Soul