(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Resolution Copper.)
Opinion: Mining — particularly in copper-rich places like Arizona — is a necessary part of our clean energy transition. We can’t continue to say no.
Benji Backer opinion contributor
Arizona Republic
President Biden has made no secret of his climate and clean energy agenda since taking office, but there are significant holes in his administration’s plans.
While both the president and his climate team have admitted that transitioning to clean energy sources will require rare-earth minerals like lithium, uranium and copper, little has been done to actually secure these supply chains domestically.
Although most people may not realize it, mining — particularly in copper-rich places like Arizona — is a necessary part of our clean energy transition.
Without raw materials like copper, we cannot build the energy technologies of tomorrow.
We’re hurtling toward a copper shortage
Copper, known as the “metal of electrification,” is used to construct high-voltage transmission lines and the wires within clean energy technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines and nuclear reactors.
While the president did invoke the Defense Production Act for critical mineral production and prioritized domestic battery production, those are symbolic rather than concrete steps in the right direction.
A much-needed copper mining project proposed in Minnesota was blocked at the beginning of this year, for instance.
Meanwhile, we’re anticipating a copper shortage not just in the United States, but across the world due to increasing demand for the metal amid the clean energy transition.
For American jobs, energy security and environmental health, we have to create the building blocks of the clean energy economy here at home.
The Biden administration cannot continue to be hesitant to take that step.
Resolution Copper mine is still delayed
This confusing, contradictory strategy is on full display here in Arizona, where the U.S. Forest Service has indefinitely delayed the approval of Resolution Copper, a new copper mine proposed by Rio Tinto outside Superior.
Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit organization representing the San Carlos Apache Tribe and other native groups, is opposing the project due to environmental concerns and has already delayed the project by nearly a decade.
Yet, it must be said that in the United States, we have some of the highest environmental and labor standards in the world.
Although mining is not environmentally neutral, we have the capability to mine in the safest manner for both workers and the natural environment.
Another view:Resolution Copper threatens my community
If a clean energy transition means more mining — and it does — the best choice is to mine here in the United States, rather than relying on foreign countries like Chile or Mexico to do it for us.
The president must take a strong stance in favor of more domestic mining — not just in rhetoric, but in action. That means sensible permitting reform to speed up the approval process for mines such as Resolution Copper.
