Never in history have the earth’s mineral resources been so essential to human existence as today. America’s future economic growth, as well as our energy and national security, is inextricably linked to being able to access and produce our mineral supplies. The sad irony exposed in this study is that even though America is richly endowed with untold mineral wealth, access to those minerals—especially on federal lands—has been extremely problematic for decades.
Three causes preventing access and production of our federal (and state) mineral wealth are massive unrealistic permitting labyrinths, frivolous but malicious environmental lawsuits, and withdrawal of mineral-rich federal lands to prevent development. These are the primary reasons why America’s domestic mineral production is at a tipping point, resulting in an unprecedented and dangerous over-reliance on China, Russia, and other dictatorships for the very minerals and energy that keep us free!
The United States is blessed with some of the richest supplies of mineral wealth anywhere in the world. The total value of America’s domestic mineral reserves has been estimated by the National Mining Association at $6.2 trillion dollars and rising. In addition, mining these minerals would raise up to $1 trillion in revenues for the Federal Government. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), “mineral reserves” are that portion of an identified resource from which a usable mineral (or energy) commodity can, at present, be economically and legally extracted. In other words, mineral reserves are minable now.
Reprinted with Permission from Unleash Prosperity – By Dr. Ned Mamula
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
The United States could return to being essentially completely self-sufficient, in terms of both resources and consumption, like this country was up until the early 20th century, if we simply pursued a set of more rational economic development policies favoring domestic growth over globalization at the expense of the American public. Yes, excessive and overly costly regulations and approval processes, along with questionable land management policies pertaining to federal lands do provide a substantial obstacle, but so do the consequences of a series of bad decisions made by a number of American Presidents and members of Congress over the last 50 years.
In essence, the culmination of a series of poorly thought-out policies and laws has resulted in the hamstringing of building or mining almost anything in this country today. Not unless one is willing to spend millions or even billions and wait 10 to 20 years to “maybe” get a permit and license at the end of a very long and expensive process. That is what President Trump is currently trying to rectify and what the Democrats, via a series of Democrat appointed, activist Judges are presently trying to stop. The long-term direction and fate of the country, once again, hangs in the balance.
I have no doubt Trump will prevail when all these legal challenges finally get to the Supreme Court, from a constitutional basis, but honestly this country shouldn’t tolerate these continued, thinly disguised lawfare assaults from the Democrat Party.