U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) sent a letter to Energy Secretary Chu on Monday urging him to consider granting loan guarantees to rebuild America’s rare earth supply chain and manufacturing sector.
Rare earths are a group of 17 elements that are increasingly vital to a
host of modern defense and clean energy technologies, including radar
systems, modern weaponry, advanced batteries, next-generation vehicles,
high-efficiency lighting, and wind turbines.
The United States is estimated to contain 15% of the world’s rare
earth reserves, but the country remains dependent upon China for
imports of nearly all of these critical materials.
“China accounts for 97% of global rare earth production and has
held clean energy manufacturing hostage by limiting exports,” Murkowski
said. “As a direct result, we risk a future in which wind turbines,
solar panels, advanced batteries and geothermal steam turbines are not
made in the USA, but somewhere else.”
The bipartisan letter, signed by 20 senators, asked the Department of Energy to consider utilizing its Loan Guarantee Program to accelerate the redevelopment of manufacturing capabilities for rare earths in the U.S.
Bayh, a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, said: “Without a secure, domestic supply of rare earth metals, our country is forced to rely on China for these materials, an unacceptable situation that jeopardizes our economy, our energy supply and our national security interests.”
In September 2009, Colorado-based Molycorp Minerals, announced plans to reopen its California mine, which shut down operations in the 1990s when Chinese mines undercut the market. Parent companyMolycorp, Inc. filed for an IPO in April to raise up to $350 million.
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