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That is the root of it. The environmental movement in the West has its roots in Communism (Ironically, because Communist countries unfailingly devastate and destroy the environment in far worse and more universal ways than any Western country.)

The environmental devastation in many Eastern Bloc countries along with the Soviet Union and today, China, makes our environmental abuses pale in comparison.

The Left has found that environmentalism, when coupled with activist judges who legislate from the bench, is a potent combination that conservatives simply didn’t pay attention to until we woke up one day that a communist foe has effectively monopolized our supply chains and will use it against us as a weapon whenever they feel the need, as we would rightfully use against them if we felt the need.

A bad situation, no doubt. We do need to revive this aspect of our industry here, as we do have many of the things needed, but the environmental movement has made them nearly impossible to exploit.

” The environmental movement in the West has its roots in Communism (Ironically, because Communist countries unfailingly devastate and destroy the environment in far worse and more universal ways than any Western country.)”

AND...

The very same group that demands shutting down any extraction of minerals from the earth, sea or sky.
They also demand, that you purchase an electric vehicle driven by rare earth magnets and powered by exotic batteries.

All requiring superconductor based power generation and transmission.

Environmentalists would rather there be a much bigger mess in areas controlled by their Chicom friends than a properly managed mess in the US. They are willfully blind to the former. What we need is certainly available here, but the greenies either ban it or try to price it out of the market with excessive regulation. But one factor has been overlooked in this thread. Many otherwise viable 'rare earth' containing ores are also rich in Thorium. Thorium not only currently has virtually no commercial uses. Moreover it is radioactive. So what's left from the ore after extracting the valuable rare earths is classified as "radioactive waste" and has to be expensively stored indefinitely. The US thorium waste storage costs exceed the value of the rare earths. China probably just throws it a big pile then ignores it.

Start using thorium fission plants and convert that expensive waste into valuable fuel. Which would be considered 'green' fuel if the left were honest. Moreover, in addition to expending the better than free thorium containing ore 'waste' thorium based fission plants can also consume several other categories of radioactive 'waste.'