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Rare earth elements don’t get the attention they deserve, but they are vital to our everyday life as key components of a nearly endless list of electronic devices. They are also a commodity over which China holds dangerous dominance, placing the United States at the mercy of their communist government. For economic, national security, and, yes, environmental reasons, it is past time we increase domestic production of these minerals, known as REEs.
As a candidate for governor, I intend to raise the profile of this issue, and when I am elected, Pennsylvania will become a leader in the production of REEs.
On the presidential campaign trail, Joe Biden infamously downplayed the economic threat to America represented by China. He scorned the notion that China is a significant competitor of ours, scoffing, “China’s gonna eat our lunch? C’mon, man!” Biden was wrong, as China has been exploiting American complacency for decades, both in trade and in stealing intellectual property. But there’s another area where China has been “eating our lunch” that goes unnoticed most of the time: Production of REEs.
REEs are heavy, soft metals employed in the electronic devices which are everywhere in today’s world. They are used in the manufacture of televisions, cellphones, computers, microphones and speakers, among other items, but are also extremely versatile. There are medical uses, agricultural uses, and even applications in missile defense systems. In short, rare earth minerals help make modern life possible and should be considered a national security priority.
Against this backdrop of our clear reliance on REEs, it is alarming that China supplies about 80 percent of these elements that the United States needs – and worse, China knows it.
In May 2019, as former President Donald Trump was correctly holding China accountable for its cheating in international matters, the communists threatened to cut off exports of rare earth elements to the U.S. It was not a threat to be dismissed, as the Chinese already had done exactly that to Japan a decade prior.
The clear answer to the dilemma is to increase extraction of these minerals here at home. This is an avenue President Trump identified, issuing an executive order in 2020 to expand American production and reduce our dependence on China.
Expanding domestic production is where Pennsylvania can play a major role, especially in the anthracite coal regions of our state. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it had identified high concentrations of REEs in various locations around the country, including in our own anthracite deposits. This was tremendous news and an opportunity to create jobs for Pennsylvania workers, while also scoring a win for America in our ongoing competition with China.
While I was a member of Congress, representing the former 11th District of Pennsylvania, I identified REEs as key to the future of our Commonwealth and of our nation. I was proud to help secure a $1 million federal grant to Penn State for a pilot project to extract REEs from coal waste, and visited the site with U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry in 2017.
Extraction of these invaluable materials remains an enormous economic development opportunity for our region, if we stand ready to entice major companies to come here for this purpose. But it will require leaders who understand the potential and avoid being hoodwinked by environmental extremists who are against progress.
In truth, the responsible production of REEs is an environmentally friendly endeavor. As has been made clear repeatedly, the process can take advantage of areas that have already been mined, meaning that it can be an early step in land reclamation.
And we all know that environmentalists love to promote “clean energy,” including windmills, solar panels and electric cars. It may shock some to learn that all of these technologies rely today on rare earth elements.
There truly is no good argument against utilizing existing coal sites to produce REEs. It promotes land reclamation, it creates jobs and it cuts into China’s control of the world market.
We’ve been mining anthracite coal in our part of Pennsylvania for 150 years. It turns out we were sitting on a gold mine after all.
Lou Barletta is a former mayor of Hazleton and former member of Congress, now running for the Republican nomination for governor of Pennsylvania.