[Sonny M]

FWIW, "rare earth minerals" are a misnomer, they are not rare.

Thanks to our "progressive" regulatory system, we did everything but outright ban mining for them (though the "progressive" regulations wound up becoming in fact, a de facto ban).

It would take massive deregulation and probably even loans and tax breaks, just to kick start the industry all over again.

[InterceptPoint]

Thanks to our “progressive” regulatory system, we did everything but outright ban mining for them (though the “progressive” regulations wound up becoming in fact, a de facto ban).
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Not surprising. Do you have a good reference?