Commentary
Last month, President Biden began his tour of America’s electric vehicle supply chain, which brought him to Minnesota. While here, he talked about those who would love to “cede [the] clean energy future to China” and “make us dependent on overseas supply chains … and weaken energy security”—a curious statement provided our current EV supply chain begins with child labor in the Congo and continues through China.
Since 1884, Minnesota’s miners have supplied record amounts of minerals that make up the products we’ve come to love and rely on—from automobiles and appliances to the girders in our bridges and our wind turbines. In 2022, Minnesota ranked 5th in the nation in mineral production, supplying over 85 percent of our country’s iron ore. Our state also has manganese, copper, nickel, and titanium in mineable quantities, according to the Department of Natural Resources….