While the Biden administration continues to put America last when it comes to – well, most things, they sure are great at handing money to foreign governments.
In the latest example, the administration is considering funding 12 critical mineral mining projects overseas under the guise of fighting climate change, Axios reported Monday.
According to Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Joe Fernandez, “around a dozen” overseas projects are under consideration, including mining, mineral processing and recycling, which would allow the administration to secure ‘critical minerals’ required to manufacture green energy technologies – such as ones the Biden team have blocked in both Minnesota and Alaska over ‘environmental concerns.’
In January, the Biden Department of the Interior revoked two permits for Twin Metals mines in Minnesota which would have produced copper, nickel and cobalt, claiming that they would contaminate nearby watershed. All three of those metals are essential for wind turbine and battery production.
“Joe Biden continues to put foreign jobs over American jobs,” said Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN), top Republican on the Natural Resources Energy and Mineral Subcommittee in a statement to the Daily Caller. “This activist Administration is pushing an energy transition, which requires minerals.”
The federal Export-Import Bank and the Development Finance Corporation, which is bankrolling a nickel mine in Brazil, will provide the funds to aid overseas mining developments, Axios reported. The Biden administration will use the Mineral Security Partnership, a global partnership that seeks to expedite the procurement of critical minerals, and will work with Canada, the U.K., the European Union and other allies to fund foreign mines.
On Dec. 2, The Environmental Protection Agency recommended preventing operators of Southwestern Alaska’s Pebble Mine from disposing of waste material in the nearby Bristol Bay, a regulation that would prevent the mine from opening. Over a 20-year period, the mine could extract about 1.5 billion tons of copper, molybdenum as well as other critical minerals that are needed to create solar panels and geothermal energy facilities, according to a report published by Northern Dynasty Minerals, the mine’s owner. -DC
“We have an abundance in the United States, including in the Duluth Complex in my district which alone contains 95% of America’s nickel, 88% of our cobalt, and more than a third of our copper,” Stauber said. “For political reasons, the Biden Administration won’t allow domestic mining.”
“On behalf of the American worker, I will hold this Administration accountable,” Stauber continued.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 12/14/2022 – 17:20
