NEWS
RARE: The Association for Rare Earth
Contact:
Peter Mirijanian Public Affairs, 202-464-8803, or peter@pmpadc.com
October
13, 2011
For IMMEDIATE Release
DOD Report Adds Urgency to
Development of New Sources
of Rare Earth Metals, Former
Senior U.S. Army Official Says
(WASHINGTON)
– A new Defense Department report on America’s national security industrial
base offers fresh evidence that the U.S. is over-reliant on foreign sources of
vital rare earth metals, according to former Assistant Secretary of the Army
for Civil Works and former Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for
Environment John Paul Woodley. Woodley is a member of the Board of Advisors of RARE: The Association
for Rare Earth.
The
Pentagon report to Congress notes that the Defense Department “relies on [rare
earth] materials in the production of many of its weapon systems and needs to
ensure their continued availability to meet national security objectives and
military superiority.” According to
the report, “China supplies
approximately 97 percent of the world’s RE, and has been gradually reducing its
RE exports to the rest of the world as its own internal demand for RE
increases.” The new report
recommends specific actions to reduce the risk of disruptions in rare earth
supplies to America’s vital defense needs.
Woodley
said the report language “brings much-needed focus to the policy debate now
emerging in Washington about how to expand domestic and foreign production of
rare earth minerals and metals. No
single nation should control a resource that every nation needs.”
Woodley
added, “Worldwide demand for these materials will continue to accelerate, resulting
in significant price and supply pressures. The supply challenge is solvable when and if we decide to lead.”
Woodley
said that the Defense Department findings should prompt U.S. policy makers and
private sector manufacturers to better collaborate on ways to stockpile
especially critical metals. Longer term, Woodley said the only viable solution
is to promote greater private investment in production and processing.
The
Defense Department report follows Congressional action last year with House
passage of Rare Earths and Critical Materials Revitalization Act of 2010, and a
hearing last month in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“We
need to get a sense of urgency for meeting the challenge of having a reliable,
long-term rare earth mineral supply. Now is the time to build a consensus to solve supply problems while creating
and keeping jobs here at home.” Woodley said.
About RARE:
The Association for Rare Earth seeks to increase the production of rare earth
elements; remove barriers to access of rare earth elements domestically and
internationally; increase the affordability and trade of rare earth minerals;
and increase the affordability and availability of technologically and
environmentally advanced products made with rare earth minerals -- all for the
betterment of people’s lives and the environment in which they live.
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