Bkmk
bump for later
Yet, we still send $$$ aid to BRICS
Processing minerals is energy-intensive and creates a lot of waste/pollution. Even though with the strictest air and water controls employed - Environmentalists, climate-activists, leftists in Government and NIMBY types have pushed all these processing industries off-shore.
China simply said: “OK, Karen. We’ll take those jobs. Thank you. And it will give us the chance to develop future technology and industry in these areas.”
US has a lot of those, but the enviros pretty much stopped any chance of taking advantage of them.
It all makes materials science the most important industrial investment a nation like the U.S. can make.
I will argue that metals are stored in the ground as ore.
The fact that some nations are the primary suppliers at present does not preclude removing them from in the ground storage if required.
The whole thing is a hoax and soon the EV fad will go away along with the need for all of these exotic metals.