Heed the warnings we need to be economically independent from China, or they will punish us
President-elect Donald Trump and Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, the chair of NATO’s military committee, understand that you cannot separate our economic and military competition with China.Bauer warned at a meeting of the European Policy Centre in Brussels that China is quickly cornering the market on rare earth minerals and other natural resources.“We are naive if we think the Communist Party will never use that power,” he said.
“Business leaders in Europe and America need to realize that the commercial decisions they make have strategic consequences for the security of their nation.”Yet President Biden’s focus on “green” energy has made China stronger and America weaker.China is dominating critical minerals vital for these technologies, while US automakers are laying off workers.
To ensure that America does not choose to depend on the Chinese Communist Party, which owns a stake in major Chinese industries, our nation must advance and implement policies that reduce US reliance on China’s economy.Biden’s regulations require the purchase of Chinese-sourced renewables, electric vehicles, batteries and critical minerals.At the same time, Biden, seeking zero carbon emissions, has discouraged the development and use of domestic supplies of oil, natural gas and critical minerals.Natural-gas power plants require one ton of critical minerals for every megawatt of power capacity, while nuclear power plants need six tons.But onshore wind plants require 11 tons, and offshore wind demands 17 tons — for the same megawatt of energy output.
States that require renewables have higher residential electricity costs than states that do not.US national-security policy should focus on exploring and extracting key resources in America, in partner countries and in international waters; transporting and processing these resources safe from leverage by US adversaries; using US energy sources and technologies protected from manipulation; and shielding US allies fr...