Thorium is just thrown into the article as a shiny object.
I have to disagree with you on this, SpaceBar.
While it is true that the article highlights the overarching issue of how US industry is hamstrung by regulations in a way that industry in Communist China is not (Communist countries are parties to some of the worst ecological disasters and defacements in history) it DOES cut right to the heart of the specific rare earth issues.
It is a fact that China controls the market on these due largely ONLY to two things: One, they can mine the elements in any way they deem necessary with no thought whatsoever to environmental concerns, AND...there is no market for Thorium, which in that context, is a HUGE millstone around the neck of anyone (NOT living in a totalitarian country) wishing to mine where there is Thorium (where other rare earths may be found)
The Thorium tailings are an overall net cost, and hugely expensive too, due to their radioactive nature. Just the way they have to be handled by EPA regulations in the USA, contrasted with the Chinese (who likely can back them up to a river and dump them in if they so desired) makes anything with Thorium unprofitable for us, where it doesn’t for them.
You and I both likely agree on this point.
However, if there WERE a market for Thorium...I guarantee, we would be swimming in rare earth mining. If Thorium could be sold at a profit, the rare earths found cohabiting the environments in which we find Thorium deposits would be icing on the cake, and delicious icing too, as it would both make money, AND remove a monopoly enjoyed by China. (The USA has the second most know Thorium deposits in the world, far behind India.
Where we disagree is the characterization that Thorium has no place in this discussion...I think it does.