America is the Land of Opportunity because of the plentiful and unique natural resources from the East to the West Coast. Over the past nearly 250 years, our nation has relied on this bounty to sustain itself and our economy. But as we approach the United States’ semiquincentennial next summer, it’s clear that in recent decades, the U.S. has become less self-reliant on its own natural resources, instead looking abroad to other nations, even foreign adversaries, for crucial minerals.

Overregulation, outdated legislation, and sometimes decadeslong permit processing wait times have led to an overreliance on minerals such as lithium imports from adversaries, including the People’s Republic of China. This has, in turn, played into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, granting them de facto control of the global lithium supply chain either through their domestic mines or ones they have gained through other means, such as the Belt and Road Initiative. 

This has only empowered Beijing in its drive to gain........

© Washington Examiner