Lazenby, H. (2023, September 1) US Inflation Reduction Act Impact Report Lays Bare Critical Mineral Supply Fault Lines. Retrieved January 26, 2024, 

from US Inflation Reduction Act impact report lays bare critical mineral supply fault lines – MINING.COM

 

The US Inflation Reduction act spends over 500 billion on new energy investments and raises the amount of electric vehicle sales. All of this increases the demand for minerals and metals that contribute to renewable energy sources. However the United States, and other developed countries to an extent, have long and complicated permitting processes. The federal land is becoming increasingly expensive and permitting is full of unpredictability and delays. Permitting remains the biggest hurdle and threatens the effectiveness of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

 

I find it surprising that it is universally agreed that the permitting issue is seen as the biggest hurdle in a transition to more clean energy, but it remains unchanged. To get the US to transition to cleaner energy, there needs to be a change in the permitting process for land. We would need to make the process more efficient so that it becomes faster to get a permit. The issue that would be the effect on the environmental and local communities from mining. To gain an easier transition to green energy, we must, unfortunately, sacrifice a part of these concerns. However, we will still have EPA laws to make sure that the environment is protected as much as possible. We can have investments into local communities to mitigate negative impacts. But to effectively change our energy to more clean sources, we will need to allow environmental degradation to happen in the region.