US President Joe Biden is drafting an executive order to use the Defence Production Act to ramp up hard rock mining, The Intercept reported March 24.
It is part of Biden's administration's push to produce critical minerals which are necessary for green energy technology.
Developing these minerals on the domestic front is "essential to our national security," the order is expected to say. It will also refer to this policy as "essential to national defence," The Intercept reported.
The Biden administration has frequently invoked national security concerns in its push for increased critical minerals development.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and its impact on the oil and gas markets, have increased the administration's urgency in transitioning to green energy.
A number of US Senators, including Edward Markey, Elizabeth Warren, Martin Heinrich, Cory Booker, and Jeffrey Merkley, sent Biden a letter earlier this week, urging him to use the DPA to further lessen the dependence on Russia and "other authoritarian petrostates" for the U.S.' energy needs.
Earlier in March, the US banned all Russian oil and gas imports as part of a growing list of sanctions in response to the invasion.
Domestic environmental group Earthworks repeated its warning that an increase in U.S. mining production should not be built on the back of "dirty mining."
The US mining code has not been updated since the late 1800s, and has failed to prevent the pollution of 40% of US watersheds, Earthworks said.
"The clean energy transition cannot be built on dirty mining," Earthworks Policy Director Lauren Pagel said.
"Expanding mining without addressing the shortcomings of our archaic mining laws would be disastrous."
In late February, the US Interior Department announced that it was launching an interagency working group to reform hard-rock mining laws and regulations.
"The 150th anniversary of the Mining Law of 1872 is a great opportunity to take a hard look at how we regulate and permit mining in this country," Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said.
The working group will include experts in mine permitting and environmental law to make recommendations for improvements.
Two Senators recently introduced a bipartisan bill in the Senate that would remove penalties for third-party organisations to clean up abandoned mines, which may improve support for mining in Western communities.
