President Donald Trump took another step towards unleashing American energy dominance with the opening of a Wyoming mine that will also reduce American dependence on China for critical minerals, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) told Breitbart News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lummis was on hand for the historic opening of Ramaco Resources, Inc.\u2019s Brook Mine outside Ranchester, Wyoming, in mid-July. The mine is not only Wyoming\u2019s first new coal mine in decades, but it will provide a wealth of geopolitically vital rare earth minerals as well, Lummis told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was incredibly significant for several reasons,\u201d Lummis described the mine\u2019s opening. \u201cOf course, we just passed President Trump\u2019s major piece of legislation, the big, beautiful bill that was very energy focused \u2014 and for good reason, because China has dominated the world\u2019s rare earth supply chain, [producing] roughly 80 percent of the world\u2019s rare supply chain, and this mine includes both coal and rare earth minerals. So it was a triumph.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lummis elaborated on the ubiquity of critical minerals in American life, emphasizing the importance of maintaining access to the important components. \u201cThere are magnets and rare earth minerals in virtually everything that has a button \u2014 everything that has a button \u2014 whether it\u2019s a phone or a refrigerator or a dishwasher, our heavy equipment, our cars,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, U.S. complacency allowed China to develop a stranglehold on the global critical mineral market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe United States has abundant rare earth minerals, but the \u2018anti mining for anything in America\u2019 attitude that was prevalent during both the Obama and Biden presidencies really prevented us from being able to get permits for these mines,\u201d Lummis told Breitbart News. \u201cThose administrations slow-walked mine permitting down to the point where you couldn\u2019t get a permit at all. And so we have put ourselves in this position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe good news is now President Trump is going to get us out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lummis praised Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who traveled to Wyoming for the mine\u2019s grand opening, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, telling Breitbart News, \u201cthe people who are running [Trump\u2019s] energy policy are as good as you can get.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wright, the primary speaker at the event, \u201cunderstands and appreciates the importance of that mine for rare earth minerals,\u201d Lummis added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Lummis believes coal will continue to be a valuable mineral as well, a view shared by Wright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen he was asked at the event by the press, \u2018Well, isn\u2019t it nice that this coal mine turned out to be a rare earth mine? Now you don\u2019t have to worry about mining for coal. You can just mine for rare earths?\u2019 Chris Wright said, \u2018No, we need both,\u2019 and emphasized the importance that coal still has in energy in the U.S.,\u201d Lummis recalled from the event. \u201cAs you know, 20 percent of this nation\u2019s electricity comes from coal, and without it, we would have brownouts and blackouts. Without it, we can\u2019t compete with China in the race for artificial intelligence dominance and data storage dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s different approach to critical minerals and energy policy is a \u201cgame changer,\u201d Lummis said, touting the president\u2019s work expediting permitting through executive orders and streamlining regulations like the National Energy Policy Act (NEPA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHis staffers know how to expedite NEPA and permitting regulations to bring [online] some of these rare earth mines and other mines that have been lingering for permits in the bowels of federal agencies for literally decades \u2014 not just years, but decades,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has made combating China a priority, and critical minerals are an important weapon in the geopolitical struggle. Fortunately, Trump is effectively wielding the weapon after prior administrations ignored it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have sufficient rare earth minerals in the United States to fulfill our needs,\u201d Lummis explained. \u201cSo we can make our own semiconductors, we can make our own magnets, and we can quit relying on China for these minerals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlso, as you know, President Trump negotiated a deal with Ukraine to address additional supplies for rare earth minerals with Ukraine, and can do that with other countries as well. So all of us \u2014 meaning the globe \u2014 is not as dependent on China for rare earth minerals as the entire globe is now. And when we do that, we free ourselves geopolitically from dependence on China for something that now the whole world needs through semiconductors in order to advance technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lummis said deregulation, faster permitting, and less bureaucratic interference can enable continued progress on critical mineral mining in the U.S., adding that continued investment in necessary technology and expertise is essential as well. Her home state will play an important role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWyoming\u2019s role is going to be huge,\u201d she said with pride. \u201cWyoming exports twelve times more energy than it consumes. So we can be a supplier for the rest of the nation. We have every source of energy, be it base load energy through hydrocarbons \u2014 coal, oil, gas, uranium, for small modular nuclear, all provide base load energy. We\u2019ve got it all. We also have wind and solar to provide intermittent power where that works, and more importantly, Wyoming has the expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the economic and geopolitical significance of critical minerals increases, Lummis is excited for the role Wyoming will play and thankful for the Trump administration\u2019s steps to address the crisis of Chinese dominance in the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople don\u2019t adequately appreciate how critical this is to everything that happens from the minute we wake up in the morning in this country,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n