From Red State.com (Jan. 28):
Joe Biden was apparently not content with “simply” and purposely creating an energy crisis on Day One of his occupation of the Oval Office — in part by killing the Keystone XL pipeline — nor with recently pledging to block the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine. Yeah, not even close.
Team Biden on Wednesday canceled two major mineral leases, effectively killing the project and handing a major win to environmentalists. As reported by Mining.com, the U.S. Department of the Interior canceled the leases for Antofagasta PLC‘s proposed Twin Metals copper and nickel mine in Minnesota, throwing yet another Biden campaign promise under the bus — this one made to America’s miners.
As reported by Reuters in October 2020, then-candidate Biden told miners he would support boosting domestic production of metals used to make electric vehicles — we know how much Joe loves electric vehicles — solar panels, and other products “crucial to his climate plan.”
Just one problem.
As noted by Yahoo, electric vehicles (EVs) use a “ton” of copper — particularly when compared with “fossil fuel burning” vehicles. (Emphasis, mine.)
[Copper] is an essential component in EVs, and is used in electric motors, batteries, inverters and wiring. Also, the EV charging infrastructure is largely based on copper-based technologies. Copper is a key component of charging infrastructure and is found in cables, transformers and wiring to the electric panel.
Importantly, usage of copper in EVs is up to 4 times more than in conventional cars. Per the Copper Development Association Inc., traditional cars have 18-49 pounds of copper, hybrid EVs contain approximately 85 pounds and plug-in hybrid EVs use 132 pounds.
While battery BEVs contain 183 pounds, a hybrid electric bus and a battery-electric bus contain 196 and 814 pounds of copper, respectively.
Um, Joe?
According to Mining.com, the leases for the proposed mine in northern Minnesota had first been pulled by then-President Barack Obama’s administration in 2016. (Who knew?) But Donald Trump’s administration reversed that decision. Biden officials on Wednesday said Trump erred in giving the leases back, said U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, as transcribed by Mining. com:
“We found the leases were improperly renewed in violation of applicable statutes and regulations, and we are taking action to cancel them,” [and to] ensure that no lessee receives special treatment.
Shockingly, Haaland didn’t elaborate on any “special treatment.”
Twin Metals, which is controlled by Chile’s Antofagasta, is convinced the decision to cancel the leases was based solely on politics and not science. Hmm. Politics vs. science. We’ve seen this movie for two years, haven’t we? In “another area,” I mean? Said Twin Metals spokesperson Kathy Graul:
We will challenge this attempt to stop our project and defend our valid existing mineral rights. We expect to prevail.
Best wishes to the efforts of Twin Metals, of course, but Biden has had his “climate change” sights on Minnesota copper mining since at least October, as reported by CBS Minnesota at the time.
The administration announced it had ordered a study that could lead to a 20-year ban on mining upstream from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Antofagasta hoped to build an underground mine in the area that would supply copper for electric vehicles, Joe’s favorite mode of transportation. Except for Amtrak, of course, but I digress.
Becky Rom of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters conservation group was thrilled by the administration’s latest “climate change” nail in the copper-mining industry coffin. Per Mining.com:
It is heartening to have an administration making decisions with integrity. Twin Metals leases should never have been reinstated in the first place, and this announcement should stop the Twin Metals mine threat.
And Joe “Existential threat of our time” Biden gladly folded up like a cheap suit.
Just one more problem. Consider the following headlines:
Forbes, June 2021: The Race for Copper, the Metal of the Future
Bloomberg, March 2021: The World Will Need 10 Million Tons More Copper to Meet Demand
S&P Global, October 2021: Energy Transition to Boost Demand for Copper, Nickel Over Next Decade
CNBC, July 2021: Why a Looming Copper Shortage Has Big Consequences for the Green Economy
Yet, as he did on Day One by killing Keystone XL, Biden now seeks to create a crisis in America’s copper and nickel mining industry. But fear not my fellow Americans, Joe can always resort to plan B.
As with the case when Biden killed Keystone and raced to once again make America energy-dependent, Joe can always beg Russia and China for copper and nickel.
As Putin and Xi laugh their a**es off. Again. Make that, still. [source]
Not surprising. The crazy Left owns The Demented One. He does their biding.
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