According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the United States is 100 percent import dependent for at least 20 critical and strategic minerals (not including the “rare earths”), and between 50 percent and 99 percent dependent for another 30 key minerals. For example, the United States is totally dependent on imports for vital strategic metals that are necessary components for military weapons systems, cellphones, solar panels, lithium ion batteries, and many high-technology products. The reason for this dependency is not due to geologic impediments, but due to politics. Large portions of public lands in the West have not been sufficiently explored, and permitting in the United States takes seven to ten years compared to two or three years in Australia and Canada. In fact, the United States is much more dependent upon the key imported minerals that are essential for making the electric cars and renewable energy sources advocated for by opponents of fossil fuels than the United States was ever dependent on imported fossil fuels.

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