Why Is Biden Sacrificing Mining Dominance to the Chinese?

In a recent hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri grilled Jaelith Hall-Rivera on the Biden administration’s closure of land holding what could be the world’s most important cobalt and nickel deposits while China dominates the minerals markets. Brianna Lyman reports at The Daily Caller:

Hawley began by establishing agreement with Hall-Rivera that critical minerals are essential to U.S. energy security before noting that research indicates demand for cobalt, nickel and lithium are expected to skyrocket over the coming decades.

“Here’s the thing that worries me, one nation in the world is currently refining 68 percent of the world’s nickel. Would you care to take a guess who might be?” Hawley asked.

“I would presume China,” Hall-Rivera responded.

“It is China,” Hawley said. “One nation is refining 40 percent of the world’s copper. Want to guess who that is?”

“I would presume the same,” the administration official answered.

“It’s China! One nation has 59 percent of the lithium and 73 percent of the cobalt. Want to guess?” Hawley pressed.

“I’m gonna say it’s China,” Hall-Rivera said.

“It is China, so given that, would you agree with me that it’s important that we do everything we can to develop our domestic critical mineral mining here in this country?” the Missouri senator asked.

“Yes, I would agree with that,” Hall-Rivera responded.

“Great, okay, then let me ask you about the Superior National Forest in Minnesota,” Hawley continued. “Earlier this year, partly at the behest of the forest service, the Biden administration withdrew 225,000 acres of critical mineral mining in northeastern Minnesota. This is the largest reserve of cobalt and nickel in the United States, perhaps I’m told, maybe even in the world. And yet, your administration shut it down. Your agency recommended that it be shut down, depriving us of these minerals, making us dependent on other nations that mine them in a completely unsafe and unsustainable way and also making us more dependent on these foreign nations. Why?”

Action Line: Strangling the free world of resources is becoming a habit for the Biden administration. Why do Biden’s bureaucrats seem more interested in helping China than in helping America? If you’re as puzzled by Biden’s actions as I am, click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, and we’ll weather this storm together.