{"id":441986,"date":"2026-04-30T03:05:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T10:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=441986"},"modified":"2026-04-30T03:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T10:05:19","slug":"congress-white-house-act-to-shore-up-americas-position-in-critical-minerals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=441986","title":{"rendered":"Congress, White House act to shore Up America\u2019s position in critical minerals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From CFACT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its tense geopolitical rivalry with the People\u2019s Republic of China, the United States has been working at distinct, self-imposed disadvantage. Despite favorable geology and a resurgent industrial base, it is far behind the PRC when it comes to the extraction and processing of critical minerals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case in point: the Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota. The area is home to the world\u2019s largest untapped deposits of copper and nickel, along with substantial reserves of cobalt. Yet these resources \u2013 with their wide array of commercial and military applications \u2013 are off-limits to American industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The riches are housed in what geologists call the Duluth Complex beneath the Superior National Forest near the federally designated Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. In 2023, the Biden administration placed a 20-year moratorium on mining in 225,500 acres in the Superior National Forest, effectively locking up the resources, to the delight of the hardened men in Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China is a global leader<\/a> in the processing and refining of nickel, copper, and cobalt. What it doesn\u2019t mine domestically, it gets from mines in controls abroad, in places like South America and Central Africa. Its ever-tightening grip on the global supply chain for these and other critical minerals, such as rare earths, is part of Beijing\u2019s larger strategy of supplanting the U.S. as the world\u2019s dominant power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a ray of sunshine broke through on April 16, when the Senate \u2013 by a vote of 50-49 \u2013 lifted the moratorium. The move<\/a> came after the House \u2013 by a 214-208 vote \u2013 had approved nixing the Biden moratorium earlier in the year. Congress\u2019s action was made possible by the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows regulations implemented late in the previous administration to be overturned by a simple majority vote in both chambers. It also prohibits a future administration from reimposing the same regulation once it has been rescinded by the CRA. Thus, with President Trump\u2019s expected signature on the legislation, the moratorium will be gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The importance of the minerals stored in the Iron Range cannot be understated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n