With the stated goal of kicking off a“new conversation—a better conversation” about energy, U.S. Senator and Senate Energy and National Resources Committee Ranking Minority Member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.) has released a set of policy priorities in a report she developed with the committee’s staff. The blueprint’s key premise is that energy should be “abundant, affordable, clean, and secure.”

What is particularly new and exciting about the report “Energy 20/20: A Vision for America’s Energy Future” from an American Resources Policy Network perspective is the inclusion of critical minerals (p. 54 ff) as an energy element:

By effectively including critical minerals as a component of a balanced energy portfolio, the Senator adds a new dimension to what has traditionally been a mix that was focused on oil, gas and coal, as well as occasionally nuclear energy.

Only a few days ago, American Resources Principal Daniel McGroarty highlighted some positive signs coming from the Obama Administration pointing increased focus on access to critical metals and minerals, but underscored that the “situation is actually more acute” in the Wall Street Journal (full article available to subscribers).

Hopefully these developments, coupled with the new national energy discourse Sen. Murkowski hopes to jumpstart with her blueprint, will lead to 2013 being the year in which the United States develops a coherent and comprehensive critical minerals strategy, the absence of which has serious consequences for our economy and nationals security.

It is safe to assume that our manufacturers have their fingers crossed.