[Sixstrings]

HONG KONG — China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals to Japan for the last month, has now quietly halted shipments of some of those same materials to the United States and Europe, three industry officials said on Tuesday.

The Chinese action, involving rare earth minerals that are crucial to manufacturing many advanced products, seems certain to further ratchet up already rising trade and currency tensions with the West. Until recently, China typically sought quick and quiet accommodations on trade issues. But the interruption in rare earth supplies is the latest sign from Beijing that Chinese officials are willing to use their growing economic muscle.

“The embargo is expanding” beyond Japan, said one of the three rare earth industry officials, all of whom insisted on anonymity for fear of business retaliation by Chinese authorities. They said Chinese customs officials imposed the broader shipment restrictions Monday morning, hours after a top Chinese official had summoned international news media Sunday night to denounce United States trade actions.

China mines 95 percent of the world’s rare earth elements, which have broad commercial and military applications, and are vital to the manufacture of diverse products including large wind turbines and guided missiles. Any curtailment of Chinese supplies of rare earths is likely to be greeted with alarm in Western capitals, particularly because Western companies are believed to keep much smaller stockpiles of rare earths than Japanese companies do.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/business/global/20rare.html?_r=2&hp

"China mines 95 percent of the world’s rare earth elements".. well that ain't good.

Oh well nothing to see here I guess. China is your friend, globalism is good for you, go ahead and keep investing in those Chinese markets, Americans don't need to make anything or have jobs anyway.

[Plantagenet]

Maybe this will encourage the environmentalists in the US to end their resistance to the Mountain Pass Mine in California, and perhaps the government will finally issue the needed permits, and maybe the government will even make a loan or do some research that will help with the production of these critical minerals.

Molycorp's Mountain Pass Mine

[gollum]

This industry among others should have never been allowed to leave the US.

[Plantagenet]

This industry among others should have never been allowed to leave the US.

It wasn't "allowed to leave"...The rare earth mining industry was driven out of the US by the environmentalists. The Mountain Pass mine was the largest rare earth's mine anywhere until it was shut down in 2002 by the environmentalists.

[Sixstrings]

The rare earth mining industry was driven out of the US by the environmentalists. The Mountain Pass mine was the largest rare earth's mine anywhere until it was shut down in 2002 by the environmentalists.

I would be more concerned about whether we have enough rare earth deposits in the first place -- do you think there's enough in the US to meet our needs? If we can't even supply our military, then China really has us over a barrel.

As for mining the deposits.. this embargo by China is most likely temporary, so we'd be wiser to keep buying off them until they really do cut us off, leaving our reserves untapped until we need them the most.

[gollum]

The rare earth mining industry was driven out of the US by the environmentalists. The Mountain Pass mine was the largest rare earth's mine anywhere until it was shut down in 2002 by the environmentalists.

I would be more concerned about whether we have enough rare earth deposits in the first place -- do you think there's enough in the US to meet our needs? If we can't even supply our military, then China really has us over a barrel.

As for mining the deposits.. this embargo by China is most likely temporary, so we'd be wiser to keep buying off them until they really do cut us off, leaving our reserves untapped until we need them the most.

My understanding is we have a good amount of deposits but it could take up to a decade to get a mining and processing operation underway.

[mattduke]

Maybe this will encourage the environmentalists in the US to end their resistance to the Mountain Pass Mine in California, and perhaps the government will finally issue the needed permits, and maybe the government will even make a loan or do some research that will help with the production of these critical minerals.

Molycorp's Mountain Pass Mine

There are nearly ten pounds of the rare earth element, lanthanum, in every Toyota Prius engine

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/opport ... _news_stmp

[Keith_McClary]

maybe the government will even make a loan or do some research that will help with the production of these critical minerals

The article says "Congress is considering legislation to provide loan guarantees for the re-establishment of rare earth mining".
I suppose Congress will also give them free liability insurance like the nuke and offshore oil industries get.

[green_achers]

It wasn't "allowed to leave"...The rare earth mining industry was driven out of the US by the environmentalists. The Mountain Pass mine was the largest rare earth's mine anywhere until it was shut down in 2002 by the environmentalists.

Those powerful little old ladies in Birkenstocks managed to shut down "the largest rare earth's (sic) mine anywhere?" Wow, I'm impressed. I didn't know the environmentalists were a branch of government, esp not back in the Bush admin.

Seriously, I don't know exactly why they went out of production, but I do happen to know a thing or two about that mine. I was on the DOI team that was dispatched to the Mojave in the late 90s to deal with a nasty toxic/radioactive spill they had in the middle of desert tortoise habitat. I'm not going to go dig through all of my old work files to figure out exactly when, but it must have been about 1997 or 1998. I was just in on the assessment part of the cleanup, but we concluded that a series of very sloppy and careless mistakes had caused the spill, combined with equipment and materials that were old and in disrepair, and the operators were cutting corners and not communicating with each other.

As I recall, the event that precipitated the CF was when one crew replaced a section of pipe and word wasn't received that they had used smaller pipe to do so. When another crew sent a "pig" down the pipe to clean off scale buildup, it hit the narrower section and blew it up.

I strongly suspect that the company abandoned the project because they didn't want to spend the money they would have had to to get the operation to a little less dilapidated state.

[Plantagenet]

I was on the DOI team that was dispatched to the Mojave in the late 90s to deal with a nasty toxic/radioactive spill they had in the middle of desert tortoise habitat.

No offense, but this is one of the classic examples of environmentalist hypocrisy.

Environmentalists in environmental groups hate mines so they file lawsuits to shut down mines to "save desert tortoise habitat". Environmentalists in the BLM and DOI cave in and shut down then mines. Then everyone screams when we don't have a mine that produces the "toxic/radioactive" mineral ore the contains rare earth elements we need for our high tech industry in the US.

If you and other environmentalists are so concerned about "desert tortoise habitat" then why aren't you or the other environmentalists doing anything about the destruction of this habitat by solar power arrays and their transmission lines? Theres a very nasty solar power array going in right now that is destroying desert tortoise habitat, and the government response is "screw the desert tortoise habitat" --- go ahead and bulldoze it. In fact, rather then saving the habitat the government is helping the developers by collecting the turtles and taking them away so the bulldozers don't squish them.

federal biologists scour Mohave to collect desert tortoises in way of solar power plant construction

Oddly enough no one from the Obama administration or from the hypocrites at the DOI or the Sierra Club is lifting a finger to save the turtles or their habit from the nasty solar power array ---- because solar power arrays are PC all the environmentalists just look the other way as the land gets bulldozed and precious desert tortoise habitat is destroyed. But let a mine be involved and suddenly the desert tortoise habitat must be protected at all costs and the mine gets shut down.

[Pretorian]

there shouldnt be any mine or solar, people have to learn humility and modesty and live in the area where they killed off everything alive already, and keep themselves and their toxicity there.. I wonder if cancer cells, once getting their freedom and immortality de-jure, ever perplexed by their deaths de-facto.

[ritter]

No offense, but this is one of the classic examples of environmentalist hypocrisy.

[snip]
If you and other environmentalists are so concerned about "desert tortoise habitat" then why aren't you or the other environmentalists doing anything about the destruction of this habitat by solar power arrays and their transmission lines?

God you're full of shit. There has been plenty of environmental outrage about the plant:
http://www.google.com/search?q=environmentalist+fight+mojave+desert+solar&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=prx&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&ei=tCa_TOelO4v2swOj7_HnDA&start=10&sa=N

You actually used to post insightful things here. I may not have agreed with much of it, but at least it was thoughtful. Has Obama driven you insane? If so, maybe you actually have something to blame him for.

[Plantagenet]

No offense, but this is one of the classic examples of environmentalist hypocrisy.

[snip]
If you and other environmentalists are so concerned about "desert tortoise habitat" then why aren't you or the other environmentalists doing anything about the destruction of this habitat by solar power arrays and their transmission lines?

God you're full of shit. There has been plenty of environmental outrage about the plant:
http://www.google.com/search?q=environmentalist+fight+mojave+desert+solar&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=prx&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&ei=tCa_TOelO4v2swOj7_HnDA&start=10&sa=N

You actually used to post insightful things here. I may not have agreed with much of it, but at least it was thoughtful. Has Obama driven you insane? If so, maybe you actually have something to blame him for.

1. God ritter -- your potty mouth is overflowing---flush quick!

2. You don't understand that environmental groups can STOP almost any development by filing a series of lawsuits that can take years to go through the courts. Where are the LAWSUITS from Sierra Club and other environmental groups that pay flocks of lawyers to sue to protect the environment? Follow the money---the environmentalist aren't putting up the money to pay the lawyers to delay the solar project and protect the desert tortoise habitat? And why isn't the government shutting down the solar power plant to protect the desert tortoise habitat when it was such a big issue when it was a mine destroying tortoise habitat? Why is the government actually HELPING the destruction of the desert tortoise habitat?

3. Perhaps Obama has driven you insane, since your post rather missed the point that the only US rare earth's mine was shut down by the government in 2002 because, as Greenachers noted above, the mine was damaging the precious desert tortoise habitat, but the same government is now actively assisting in destroying the same desert tortoise habitat in the same biome in the same desert in 2010 to enable construction of a solar power plant and environmentalists haven't filed lawsuits to stop the groovy solar power plant.


Save the desert tortoise and its precious habitat!! Stop the politically correct solar power plants!!!!

[ritter]

1. God ritter -- your potty mouth is overflowing---flush quick!

2. You don't understand that environmental groups can STOP almost any development by filing a series of lawsuits that can take years to go through the courts. Where are the LAWSUITS from Sierra Club and other environmental groups that pay flocks of lawyers to sue to protect the environment? Follow the money---the environmentalist aren't putting up the money to pay the lawyers to delay the solar project and protect the desert tortoise habitat? And why isn't the government shutting down the solar power plant to protect the desert tortoise habitat when it was such a big issue when it was a mine destroying tortoise habitat? Why is the government actually HELPING the destruction of the desert tortoise habitat?

3. Perhaps Obama has driven you insane, since your post rather missed the point that the only US rare earth's mine was shut down by the government in 2002 because, as Greenachers noted above, the mine was damaging the precious desert tortoise habitat, but the same government is now actively assisting in destroying the same desert tortoise habitat in the same biome in the same desert in 2010 to enable construction of a solar power plant and environmentalists haven't filed lawsuits to stop the groovy solar power plant.

1. Potty mouth. Good one.

2. Actually, I am painfully aware of the use of lawsuits to stop projects. I'm intimately familiar with environmental review of projects under CEQA, the California equivalent of NEPA. Here's a little reading for you to educate yourself on the environmental review process for this project (if you care to):
http://www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/ivanpah/index.html
The California Energy Commission made its final determination (approval) September 22. I'm not sure about the laws under certified regulatory programs, but under typical CEQA review, there's still a few days to file a lawsuit on the decision. They typically aren't filed until the last day of the 30-day statute of limitation to ensure maximum project delays. We'll see.

According to this article, the Sierra Club's not stoked on the project with respect to its impacts on wildlife:
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/brightsource-alters-solar-plant-plan-to-address-concerns-over-desert-tortoise/

And here's government attempting to facilitate renewable energy and turtle longevity:
http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=b3a780d4-5056-8059-7606-3936a2f7945f

3. Got the point, thanks. Perhaps you missed pstarr's point above. There is a difference between radioactive contamination and a solar project (i.e., they aren't the same thing). I'm guessing if you read the NEPA documents on both projects, you'd find that the people that prepared them and the technical studies that supported the preparation reached similar conclusions.

[green_achers]

No offense, but this is one of the classic examples of environmentalist hypocrisy.

Environmentalists in environmental groups ... (woof, woof, yadda yadda...)

I thought you might be an ignoramus when I wrote my response, now I'm sure of it. "Environmentalists" had nothing to do with my experience. I was called in as part of the land management agency's responsibility to make sure Molycorp cleaned up their mess. "Environmentalists" also didn't try to cheap out on their ops and maintenance, and they didn't break the law when they screwed up. (What I didn't mention is that their first response was to try to cover it up.)

If Molycorp decided they couldn't afford to continue to produce there and also comply with some pretty simple regulations, that's a financial decision they made. More likely, they decided they couldn't produce a high enough profit to keep their investors happy, who about that time could make bundles off of mortgage derivatives. Another failure of market capitalism.

[green_achers]

Oh, and what else was happening in almost every sector of the US economy about that time? That's right, everyone was discovering it was cheaper to import stuff from overseas than to make it here. But that takes a minor effort in the thought dept. It's so much easier to blame them durned envarnmentalists...

[Plantagenet]

No offense, but this is one of the classic examples of environmentalist hypocrisy.

I thought you might be an ignoramus when I wrote my response, now I'm sure of it. "Environmentalists" had nothing to do with my experience. I was called in as part of the land management agency's responsibility to make sure Molycorp cleaned up their mess. "Environmentalists" also didn't try to cheap out on their ops and maintenance, and they didn't break the law when they screwed up. (What I didn't mention is that their first response was to try to cover it up.)...Another failure of market capitalism.

I thought you might be an ignoramous when I read your first response but now I'm sure of it. Your suggestion that "environmentalists" had nothing to do with the closure of the US's only rare earth mineral mine followed by a denunciation of the mine for breaking [environmental] laws leading to closure of the mine is amazingly obtuse, even for an environmentalist.

Well, it appears the mine is going to reopen now. The US needs the rare earth minerals because China has cut off our supply. Maybe they can get the same government biologists who are breaking [environmental] laws by destroying the desert populationt and desert tortoise habitat where the new solar plant is being built to also go in and help the destroy the desert tortoise population at the mine site, so they won't be in the way when the mining restarts. After all--the conservationists and environmentalists have all this experience now at destroying desert tortoise habitat and populations.


"HELP! HELP! save me from the environmentalists...they are destroying my habitat for a solar power plant!!!!!!

[Keith_McClary]

Has Obama driven you insane?

Gives new meaning to "Obamamania".

If the US wants to compete with China they need to get rid of all this nonsense of environmentalism, lawsuits, minimum wages, social security, healthcare, etc.

[Ludi]

If you and other environmentalists are so concerned about "desert tortoise habitat" then why aren't you or the other environmentalists doing anything about the destruction of this habitat by solar power arrays and their transmission lines?

I'm not in favor of any big power projects anymore, personally. I'm not in favor of new transmission lines cutting across the Edwards Plateau to bring wind power from West Texas. I used to be a big wind farm booster. Not anymore. Not a booster of solar farms, wind farms, nuke farms, coal farms, hydro farms or any other big projects. Local stuff I'm all in favor of. Good luck with those local nukes.