BY RICH NOLAN:
The U.S. has launched a long-overdue effort to reclaim control of the mineral supply chains that underpin our economy and national security. Years of working around the edges of the problem have been replaced by forceful action. The Trump administration has fundamentally changed Washington’s approach to American mining. But whether the promise of this effort becomes a new era of domestic production and mineral security will depend on follow-through. Passing permitting reform is the ultimate test.
The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act gives Congress the opportunity to deliver. We are undeniably in the minerals age. From semiconductors and batteries to cutting-edge defense systems, minerals — and an increasingly wide array of them — have never been more important to our economic and national security. As demand surges for these irreplaceable materials, our ability to supply them must catch up to their mounting importance.
China understands the stakes. It has spent decades investing in mines and processing facilities, using state support to dominate markets and export controls to squeeze industries essential to our defense and manufacturing base. Breaking that grip requires a sustained commitment to rebuilding American productive capacity. The resources are here. The political will to transform them into secure supply chains has been glaringly missing. That, thanks to the Trump administration, is changing.
The administration has greatly expanded the tools available to counter China’s mineral dominance. Financing, stockpiling and measures to counter predatory market practices are helping level a deeply uneven playing field. Better coordination through the FAST-41 permitting program is also encouraging. But these efforts need durable congressional permitting reforms to deliver the sweeping change American mining requires. Clear rules must endure beyond any single administration or election.
Consider the obstacles we face. A recent study found that bringing a U.S. mine from discovery to production takes an average of 29 years, the second longest timeline in the world. Permitting delays, obstructive litigation and the uncertainty they have created are the tallest barriers along that unnecessarily long road. We cannot rebuild supply chains and counter China’s supply chain weaponization on a timetable that consumes a generation.
This bipartisan permitting deal reflects the urgency of the moment. Notably, it removes duplication and unnecessary delays and tightens review deadlines, improving transparency and clarifying access to lands needed for activities that support mining operations. The agreement also offers much-needed litigation reform. Too often, litigation becomes a tool to delay production for years, even when a challenge has little prospect of succeeding. Clearer limits on legal challenges and greater certainty around issued permits would help ensure that completing the review process actually means something. This is the transparency and certainty mining needs.
Americans understand why action matters. In national polling conducted by The Harris Poll this September, 85% of Americans said increasing domestic mining is important to economic and national security given China’s mineral export restrictions. I can’t recall the last policy issue on which nine in 10 American voters agreed.
Now is the time to recognize the status quo cannot continue. The stakes, of course, reach well beyond mining. It is hard to find a key challenge in America — housing and energy affordability or the eroding state of our infrastructure — that isn’t in some way shaped by the urgent need for reform.
This is the moment to rebuild American mining and break China’s grip on the supply chains so essential to our economic and national security. Passing the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act can turn the promise of America’s vast mineral resources into the productive capacity we so urgently need. This is an opportunity we can’t let slip through our fingers.
This article originally appeared at RealClear Energy
Rich Nolan is president and CEO of the National Mining Association.
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The post Permitting reform is the ultimate test of American mineral security was first published by the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and is republished here with permission. Please support their efforts.
