Video: Mining our way to clean energy

The United States contains some of the largest untapped reserves of essential metals in the world, but we aren’t producing them domestically.

The video below from Kite and Key Media (follow them on Twitter at @kiteandkeymedia) explains that if we don’t mine the metals we depend upon every day in the United States, it will occur somewhere else. This “somewhere else” is often an area where workers are abused and where mining exacts a huge toll on the environment and ecosystems of the surrounding areas. fewer protections for workers and the environment.

Some of the nations we rely on for mineral imports are hostile to our national interest, and our way of life.

Minnesota is a prime example of an area with massive mineral deposits that are not being developed. Our state has some of the world’s largest deposits of copper and nickel in the world, and we have 88 percent of U.S. cobalt deposits.

We should develop these resources because modern mining operations employ teams of scientists to minimize environmental impacts during the mining process. American Experiment’s research has concluded these modern mining operations would create up to 14,850 new jobs in Minnesota and add nearly $6 billion to our annual gross domestic product.

Unfortunately, many of the people who are the most opposed to responsibly mining our copper, nickel, cobalt, and palladium resources in Minnesota are also the loudest supporters of unreliable wind turbines and solar panels.

These views are inconsistent, to say the least. We should mine here because we can show the world what leadership in responsible mineral development looks like, not because we need more metals for the green dream, or whatever it’s called.