Resource Mining Reform Needed : A National Security Issue

If one needs a reason why our mining situation has become untenable in America, look no further then Wisconsin. Wisconsin has always been big on mining, the state flag even has a depiction of mining, but to understand what happened to the will to use this natural resource to best effect for the state and the country can be summed up in one word, democrats.

When the state had the opportunity to begin a mining operation in the northern part of the state which would bring more then 2000 high paying jobs to an area of the state that is hurting for an economic turn around, and bring in more then 1.3 billion in revenue, and if that's not enough, the industry that produces mining equipment is huge in this state would create hundreds of new jobs for job strapped Milwaukee.

But happened is when the vote to begin this operation and bring in huge prosperity to the state, every last democrat voted against the bill. The democrats said it would bring too much environmental destruction even though the Core of Engineers and even the EPA gave their blessing to the project. In reality, the democrats voted against the bill because it would make the governor look good in the face of the democrat effort to recall Governor Scott Walker's election that was soon to come.

So it was totally about politics from the democrats, not about creating jobs and being in new revenue to the state, just the politics of revenge. This is the true face of the democrat party, and not just in the state of Wisconsin, but the agenda and ideology of the democrats nation wide.

America Needs Mining Reform
Source: Mark Perry, "Don't neglect mining in America," Detroit News, July 10, 2014.

July 18, 2014

While mining policy is far from the minds of most voters, the United States' increasing reliance on other nations -- predominately China -- for strategic minerals is a serious concern, explains Mark Perry, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
U.S. mining policy does nothing to encourage investment:

• The United States has a complex, delay-ridden system for mine permitting. It takes an average of seven to 10 years to receive a mining permit in the United States, five times longer than in Canada.
• The Environmental Protection Agency has asserted the right to take away mining permits that have already been granted, creating uncertainty and crippling investment.
• The government restricts, or has banned, new mining operations on more than 50 percent of federally owned public land.

The United States imports $119 billion worth of minerals each year, and our reliance on other countries makes domestic manufacturers vulnerable to supply disruptions and price spikes. In fact, the United States is solely reliant on imports for 18 different minerals. This is a problem as rare earth metals such as neodymium and dysprosium are critical parts of defense and energy technologies, as well as automobiles and electronics.

Both Indonesia and China, major minerals producers, have banned exports of certain metals, creating a pricing system in which American manufacturers pay an inflated price for certain materials. Some companies in the United States have moved their operations overseas in order to obtain these minerals at lower costs.

The United States needs its own mineral supply chain, writes Perry, but it cannot do so without strong mining investment. While the American share of world mining investment was 21 percent in the early 1990s, it sits at just 8 percent today.