U.S. 'falling behind' in global race to develop electric vehicle supply chain (updated)

Texas Mineral Resources

17/09/2019 18:36

(Adds details from hearing)
    By Ernest Scheyder
    WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The United States is losing
the race to extract and refine minerals used to make electric
vehicles and should do more to spur domestic production, a
bipartisan group of senators said on Tuesday.
    The push comes as China has grown to dominate the market for
lithium, rare earths, cobalt and other so-called strategic
minerals used to make a plethora of consumer products, a
dominance that politicians have said poses a strategic threat to
the United States. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N22Q0ID
    The Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a
Tuesday hearing in part to keep the topic fresh in the national
dialogue even as attention begins to lurch toward the 2020
presidential campaign. 
    "China is consolidating control of the entire supply chain
for clean technologies," Senator Lisa Murkowski, the Alaskan
Republican who is the chair of the Senate's Energy and Natural
Resources Committee, said. "The United States is falling behind
... and allowing that to happening is a strategic mistake."
    The comments have become a kind of refrain for Murkowski,
who so far this year has used her position as chair of the
powerful committee to clamor for more attention to the
topic.[nL2N22Q0ID
    Both Republican and Democratic committee members said they
saw mining as crucial in order to deploy more solar, wind and
other renewable technologies. 
    A typical wind turbine, for example, contains nearly 5 tons
of copper, according to the National Mining Association. 
    "If we don't start embracing this technology and growing
with it, we are going to be left behind," said Senator Catherine
Cortez Masto, a Democrat of Nevada, the largest mining state.
    Senators also said they preferred mining be done
domestically given U.S. environmental laws, rather than in
places with lower standards such as the Democratic Republic of
the Congo. 
    "Let me be clear: I support mining, but I believe we need to
be doing it responsibly," said Senator Joe Manchin, a West
Virginia Democrat.    
    The two-hour hearing did not review any legislation, though
several committee members have introduced bills to streamline
mine permitting.
    In an interview after the hearing, Murkowski said she has
not talked to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell about when
her bill would receive a full vote, though she is not worried it
will ultimately pass.
    "Legislation works slowly here," Murkowski said. "I don't
think the delay is being taken as a signal that we don't have a
policy."
    President Donald Trump in 2017 signed an executive order
requiring a study of strategic minerals. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N23B1RE

 (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
 ((ernest.scheyder@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @ErnestScheyder;
+1-713-210-8512; Reuters Messaging:
ernest.scheyder.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))