Oklahoma congressman Markwayne Mullin says President Biden’s environmental policies are only forcing the U.S. to rely on the Communist Party of China to meet the country’s critical mineral needs.
It’s what he told the President in a letter detailing how Biden’s decision to roll back President Trump’s modernization of the National Environmental Policy (NEPA) is hurting the nation. Mullin charged that the roll back only increases wait times for environmental reviews and eliminates regulatory certainty for U.S. producers, forcing them to turn to China to meet the President’s own climate goals.
Rep. Mullin, now a candidate for U.S. Senate explained to the President how his policies are resulting in a nearly 10-year wait to obtain a mine permit in the U.S.
“This means our producers are handcuffed to China for our critical mineral supply to meet your climate goals,” wrote the congressman in his letter.
Mullin further explained that the U.S. is 100% dependent on imports for 17 key mineral resources and more than 50% dependent on imports for another 29 mineral commodities even though most are available in the U.S.
He was blunt in telling the President what his policies will do to the country.
“While I commend the effort to bring manufacturing back to the United States, without the ability to domestically mine and access our own critical minerals, your lofty goal of electrifying the transportation sector will fall flat,” wrote Mullin.
Here is the full text of his letter:
President Biden,
I write today with concern over your decision to roll back the Trump Administration’s successful modernization of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the direct affects this decision will have on our nation’s critical mineral needs. Your move to make permitting more difficult and eliminate certainty for our producers has made our country more reliant on the Communist Party of China than ever before.
Take battery production for electric vehicles for example. Mining for critical minerals plays a key role in producing these batteries. However, it takes nearly ten years to permit a mine in the United States with your current approval process in place. This means our producers are handcuffed to China for our critical mineral supply to meet your climate goals. Currently, the United States remains 100 percent dependent on imports for 17 key mineral resources and more than 50 percent dependent on imports for another 29 mineral commodities, despite the fact that most are available right here at home
While I commend the effort to bring manufacturing back to the United States, without the ability to domestically mine and access our own critical minerals, your lofty goal of electrifying the transportation sector will fall flat.
The reforms made under the Trump Administration provided page limits and timeframes in under which environmental reviews had to take place, offering a streamlined approval process across multiple industries and regulatory certainty for our producers instead of a decades long wait.
Environmental groups such as the American Clean Power Association and Center for American Progress see the benefits of the Trump-era NEPA reform. For other countries that have similar environmental safeguards, such as Canada and Australia, this same process only takes two years. Both these groups and countries understand that without this modernization, there is no way our country can meet your climate goals. Electric vehicles need batteries and batteries require minerals. Taking a decade to approve a mine will increase neither of those. If you want to increase battery production here in the U.S., you have to solidify the Trump-era NEPA reform.
I’ve recently introduced legislation that will make it easy for you to do so. My bill, the Stop NEPA Expansion Act, will codify President Trump’s NEPA reform and ensure our producers have the regulatory certainty they deserve.
I look forward to you reversing course on your NEPA policy so the United States can begin mining the critical minerals we desperately need.
Source: Mullin press release
