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China is not our friend.
We all know this. I’m not breaking news here. China doesn’t like us and sees us as a rival on the world stage. They want to be a superpower and we’re in the way.
That’s why I’m worried about how much trade we have with them. In and of itself, it’s not an issue, but the truth is that we’re dependent on them in ways that are never going to be good for national security.
Recently, they decided to throttle the flow of some important minerals to US firms. In so doing, though, they illustrated something they didn’t mean to. They showed us just how much our government is willing to threaten our national security.
The Chinese government in recent weeks expanded its ban on exports of a handful of minerals found in critical military and energy technologies in America. The move puts a spotlight on America's domestic mineral supplies, many of which are locked in years-long federal permitting and regulatory reviews.
One such case is a project located at an abandoned gold mine in the heart of Idaho. That mine contains some of the nation's largest known deposits of the rare mineral antimony, which is among those affected by China's export restrictions. But after a staggering 14 years, the federal government has yet to give the Idaho project a green light to begin production.
Perpetua Resources, the developer of the Stibnite gold mine in Valley County, Idaho, first initiated study, engineering, and community engagement on the project in 2010. Since then, it has faced mountains of permit filings and lengthy environmental reviews conducted by at least five separate federal agencies.
Experts and legislators say the federal regulatory and permitting behemoth with which developers like Perpetua must contend is both costly and detrimental to American national security. And they have pointed to the project as an example of why they say Congress must take up permitting reform legislation as soon as possible.
Honestly, Congress should have taken it up ages ago. While I want clean air and water, so I can see why many would want a permitting process that makes sure we don’t lose such things, businesses need to be able to thrive and the current system doesn’t do that.
Let’s be real here, these requirements make it virtually impossible for new companies to emerge in this particular market simply because no one can buy property and then wait 14 years to actually start mining.
It’s even more ridiculous when we actually need that.
However, in this case—and probably in more that we’re unfamiliar with—the regulations aren’t just throttling businesses. They’re making our country less safe.
"China has weaponized the world's mineral supply chains," Rich Nolan, the president and CEO of the National Mining Association, told the Washington Free Beacon. "Again and again, Beijing has reached for the minerals lever to exert geopolitical leverage."
"We must confront Chinese mineral extortion and recognize that U.S. mining policy is the foundation of our nation's economic, energy, and national security," Nolan continued. "We can and should be producing gallium, geranium, and antimony right here at home. Our challenge is not geology—the U.S possesses vast mineral resources—but the lack of comprehensive, urgent policy to turn those resources into the secure supply chains we so desperately need."
Antimony, like the other minerals targeted by China, has significant defense and energy applications—it is a key component of munitions, night-vision goggles, and military uniforms and is required for both utility-scale and electric vehicle batteries.
That’s right. We depend on a geopolitical rival—a potential enemy in future conflicts—for the materials we need to combat them, and we don’t. Freaking. Have. To.
To err is human, but to really screw stuff up, just get the government involved. That includes the things we actually need the government to do.
Very few of our issues as a nation are because the government isn’t involved enough. This is a prime example of that.
I remember in high school, there were a ton of groups that printed t-shirts with some variation of “lead, follow, or get out of the way” printed on them. I thought they were kind of stupid at the time, but right now, I think we need some and we need them directed at the government itself.
The problem, though, is that they think this is leadership. It’s not, it’s just obstruction, so their options really aren’t even to follow. They just need to get out of the way and let private companies solve this particular crisis, create new jobs, create new wealth, and remind China that we don’t have to depend on them for everything.
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Politics, culture, a dose of snark, and a profound love of personal and economic freedom.
That's the one thing President Trump did in his first term I appreciated most at the time, he slimmed down gov't regulations and cut through the red tape. He mostly focused on oil and gas though and that's why I think DOGE could do so much good if properly handled. We need to start going through bureaucratic regulations that exist simply to make a bureaucrat feel like he has a tiny bit more power than which he should ever be entrusted. That's how we start "draining the uniparty swamp." We cut the red tape and make the useless government lackeys who enforce it superfluous. If we close entire departments of regulatory silliness, it's not even technically firing a federal employee - it's a layoff - and I think that might bypass the union contracts Biden's been signing as fast as possible on his way out the door. It's worth looking into at least, right?