Resources have always determined power. The British empire's command over coal helped expand the realm to the ends of the earth. The United States entered World War II as a dominant oil power and for decades consolidated control over global supply. This century, power could be built on batteries, solar panels, and artificial intelligence. And China has a grip on the minerals'rare-earth elements, lithium, graphite'needed to make them. Both parties in Washington seem to agree that breaking Beijing's near monopoly over such materials would benefit the United States. 'Our national and economic security are now acutely threatened by our reliance upon hostile foreign powers' mineral production,' President Donald Trump wrote in an executive order in March designed to speed up permitting for mineral production. The administration has already green-lighted a new rare-earths mine in California next to the only active one in the United States, and today added 10 more mines to a list of...
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