Posted on 05/17/2018 8:43:09 PM PDT by caww
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is listing 35 minerals used in aircraft, cellphones, and other important technologies as "vital" to national security in a move to wean the U.S. off foreign suppliers.
The list includes such valuable metals as aluminum and titanium, as well as uranium, helium, lithium, platinum, potash, and strontium. The materials are used in aircraft and other aerospace technologies. Lithium is used in batteries to power a wide range of products from cellphones to electric cars.
A final rule to be published Friday says the U.S. is "heavily reliant" on imports of the minerals. "This dependency of the United States on foreign sources creates a strategic vulnerability for both its economy and military to adverse foreign government action, natural disaster, and other events that can disrupt
President Trump directed Zinke to conduct a review of the nation's critical mineral assets and to create a strategy on how to handle vulnerabilities.
The final list begins phase two of Trump's executive order, with the Commerce Department developing a federal strategy to ensure supplies of the minerals remain reliable.
In February, Zinke listed the 35 minerals as critical to the nation's economy and national security as it took comments on the draft proposal. The list was
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Potash??
I have to admit, Mr. Zinke has been a pleasant surprise. He’s turned out to be a pretty good Secretary of Interior.
Nah...too much money to be made.
This has long been an issue with the Feds, especially the DoD.
Many reports over the years on what to do about Strategic materials.
We get most of our potash (potassium carbonate) from Canada currently.
I think the idea would be to import as much of these elements as possible from outside sources.
This has two effects. One, we draw down the foreign suppliers, and two, this puts these elements into the domestic scrap/recycling stream.
Primary extraction and refining of these elements is a very expensive and energy intensive process. So, let the chicoms burn out all their resources.
The post consumer scrap stream recycling of these elements is a much energy intensive process. Make the chicoms greed do the heavy lifting.
If we become a Banana Republic, wouldn’t we be cornering the market on Potassium?
missing a “less”¿
I don’t know enough about it to comment. So it’s great to hear from someone who does. Thanks for posting.
I think it’s amazing the things which our President is addressing....as important that his appointments have adjusted to their dept operations, made changes and are ready to work forward with what is best for this country. This article appeared to me to be just that....action.
If you know any particulars please share. I for one know nothing about these but if our guys are addressing it there’s reasons they’re doing so.
Like everything else, this has become politicised.
And crony kapitalized.
It’s still a viable non-partisan issue that should be addressed to MAGA going forward.
Good idea to keep on eye on how it goes then. The Globalists most definatly would want control of resources as nations do seem to be on a ‘resources run’ to see who gets what.
Uranium...where have I heard that word before??
Hey, how did we actually get smart people into these government positions?!
Ohhhh... “President Trump directed Zinke to conduct a review of the nation’s critical mineral assets and to create a strategy on how to handle vulnerabilities.”
— more winning —
Then you'll be disppaointed to learn the point of the policy is to achieve the opposite.
You see, by buying cheap, imported supplies we're slowing consumption of domestic supplies, which they want you to believe is bad.
Their plan is to raise the price of American manufactured goods that contain these supplies by reducing their sources, which will have the added bonus of reducing our domestic supply sources of these elements faster. This is somehow in our 'strategic interest'.
That's what you get when you trust 'the Commerce Department developing a federal strategy to ensure supplies of the minerals remain reliable'.
I think the interest is a lessions learned from WWII.
Chromium to use in alloying steel was not availshle domestically in sufficient quantity.
Germany had problems obtaining Gasoline and Diesel. They went to converting coal to same.
These days not only the Military is at risk, but the general economy.
It is a matter of National Security.
Ethanol from corn and real sugar not withstanding.
Ohhhh... “President Trump directed Zinke to conduct a review of the nation’s critical mineral assets and to create a strategy on how to handle vulnerabilities.”
— more winning —
Yeah, because central economic planning works if you get a Republican in charge... Communism didn't fail because people are dumb, it failed because bureaucracy is dumb.
The only thing we're going to get more of with bureaucrats fiddling with our economic supply chains is inefficiency - and the real consequence of that is less wealth produced. This daft notion that giving bureaucracy economic controls are going to make us better off never falls completely out of fashion, but I'm surprised to see if met favorably in these parts.
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