The Biden administration recently canceled a proposed mine. While environmentalists celebrated, it shows how hard it is to build a domestic supply of the minerals needed to switch to a green economy.
ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:
The transition to a low-carbon future will require a lot of metals like copper, nickel and lithium to build everything from solar panels to electric car batteries. The Biden administration’s recent decision to block a proposed mine in Minnesota shows just how tough it could be to develop a domestic supply for those metals. Dan Kraker of Minnesota Public Radio reports.
DAN KRAKER, BYLINE: Pretty much everyone agrees the world is going to need to seriously ramp up production of minerals like cobalt, graphite, lithium and nickel to meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies.
JORDY LEE: The renewable energy transition is not going to happen without the mining issue. That’s just a fact.
KRAKER: Jordy Lee manages the supply chain transparency initiative at the Colorado School of Mines.
For the rest of this article: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/08/1079300246/the-white-house-wants-to-transition-to-a-green-economy-which-is-tricky-without-m