resources

The following is a re-post from 2012:

Today is American Thanksgiving – a celebration of the blessings afforded by our forefathers as they overcame adversity in a new land, laboring to obtain from the resources around them the necessities of life:  food, shelter, and warmth against winter’s cold.

Since that first winter, the bounty of Thanksgiving has become a symbol of the abundant resources the New World provided.  From the raw materials that built our modern cities to the energy that has powered innovation in all its variety, these resources have enriched the lives of millions of people in America and around the world – making possible a way of life those who gathered around that first Thanksgiving table could never have imagined.

Even today, of course, we know that too many are still doing without the basic necessities of life.  And yet the resources around us – those literally under our feet – remain plentiful.  All too often complacency and ideology lock us into inaction, blocking us from making use of the still-rich resources of this new world. Minerals, metals, fuel and timber that could create jobs, opportunities, and rewards for the American people are left untouched.

Our forefathers understood privation and want.  They understood that nature sometimes rewards tireless work with a poor harvest.  But they also understood nature’s bounty.  What they would find beyond comprehending in our day is the willful failure to use resources we have at hand to ease hardship and make a better life for ourselves and for others.

On this Thanksgiving, as we give thanks for our many blessings, may we also remember the lessons dating back to Plymouth Rock, that teach us to use our resources and resourcefulness to make an even newer and better world.

Followers of ARPN may have noticed that much of our recent blog coverage has focused on EV battery tech.  Here are a few examples:

• Vanadium’s Time to Shine?

• Race to Control Battery Tech Underscores Need for Comprehensive Resource Policy

• Lithium – Challenges and Opportunities Underscore Need for Domestic Resource Policy Overhaul

Of course, there are good reasons for focusing on this field – and once more Visual Capitalist has done a great job capturing some of them in a new infographic.

The rise of the electric vehicle – and especially its pace – has taken many by surprise. Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate that four of every five cars sold worldwide by 2050 will be battery-driven EVs.  As the infographic shows, Morgan Stanley analysts further believe that the number of cars with internal combustion engines (ICEs) are to be surpassed by battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) before 2015, as the BEV fleet hits one billion.

Whatever the adoption timelines ultimately may be, our friends at the American Exploration & Mining Association are spot on with their tweet about what the electrification of vehicles means for the resource realm: “4/5 cars sold in 2050 will be electric.  5/5 will require minerals like cobalt, lithium & iron.”  

It is time for policy makers to follow up the release of the Department of Interior’s list of 35 metals and minerals deemed critical to U.S. national security with comprehensive policy reforms that help secure domestic supplies of these and many other materials.

We have barely taken down the Christmas decorations, but stores have their Valentine’s Day merchandise out, and we’re already halfway through January.  It may feel that way, but it’s really not to early to highlight an event coming up in June – Summer will be here before we know it. So mark your calendars, ladies [...]

If you’re one of nearly half of all Americans, you will have already made a few New Year’s resolutions for 2018.   Among the most popular are personal betterment goals like “losing weight,” and “exercising more.”  While we’re all for making personal resolutions, at ARPN, we’re more concerned with the goals our policy makers are [...]

At ARPN, we have long highlighted the important but oft-overlooked nexus between resource policy and geopolitics.   The latest case in point is South Korea, which, as ARPN President Daniel McGroarty points out in his latest opinion piece for Fox News, is navigating murky waters “talking sunshine and Rare Earths as North Korean war clouds gather.” For decades, [...]

If you’re a parent of young children, you’ll probably appreciate Zinc for its medicinal properties – a good diaper rash cream or sunscreen for the little ones comes with a good dose of Zinc oxide. Otherwise, you may have come across this metal primarily as an anti-corrosion agent used to prevent metals like steel and iron from [...]

Throughout ARPN’s work, we have consistently highlighted the geopolitical dimension of mineral resource policy.  Where we source (or fail to source) our metals and minerals is an often forgotten – or ignored – factor, with implications for our domestic manufacturers, and, at times, even for our national security. Case in point – and in keeping [...]

This week, world leaders are gathering in Paris to push for an agreement on climate change, which could spell the end of the fossil era, and ring in the age of post-carbon technology.  In a recent piece for the New York Times, David S. Abraham points to an important, yet oft-ignored paradox: “(…) even as our leaders [...]

In an effort to secure access to critical metals and minerals for its industries, European Commission representatives Antonio Tajani (Vice President), and Andris Piebalgs (Commisisoner for Development Cooperation) have signed a letter of intent on cooperation with Greenland’s Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist. The June 13 letter of intent covers cooperation in the areas of joint [...]

A cautionary tale comes to us from Argentina, where major resource companies are increasingly shying away from investments in light of growing populism on the part of the Argentinian government. The latest company to pull out of the country is Cameco Corp, a major Uranium producer, announcing the end to a joint-venture exploration project with [...]