Highlights

• The U.S. faces a potential mineral crisis similar to the 1970s oil shortage.
• There is heavy dependence on China for critical minerals needed in clean energy technologies.
• Global demand for batteries, electric vehicles, and clean power is surging.
• America's mineral import reliance and slow permitting process create significant challenges.
• The mineral supply challenge is both an economic and national security issue.
• Urgent policy reforms and strategic investments in domestic mineral production are required.

In a sweeping new article, Newsweek (opens in a new tab) Environment and Sustainability Editor Jeff Young delivers a high-stakes assessment of America’s shifting energy security paradigm. Titled “The New Energy Security Threat Is the Coming Shortage of Critical Minerals”, the article draws on leading voices from government, industry, and national security to underscore a hard truth: the U.S. is dangerously dependent on China for the minerals that will power its future.

The article is based on reporting from the SAFE energy security summit, where U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) warned that the nation risks repeating the 1970s oil crisis—only this time, with lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and rare earth elements. China’s dominance in mining and processing critical minerals, recently reinforced by export restrictions on graphite, gallium, and germanium, has become the defining chokepoint of the clean energy transition.

Among the summit’s most urgent warnings, Sir Mick Davis of Vision Blue Resources cited IEA forecasts of a global copper shortfall, while Jeff Hanman of Teck Resources called out America’s sluggish permitting process and China’s 30-year lead in building capacity. Alex Wong, deputy national security adviser under President Trump, labeled the crisis “a series of self-inflicted wounds,” and Charles Williams of Concord Resources urged lawmakers to preserve key provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, including tax credits for clean energy production.

Young’s reporting confirms that while bipartisan concern is rising, the U.S. remains heavily reliant on mineral imports, even as global demand for batteries, electric vehicles, and clean power surges. Although policy solutions like permit reform and supply chain incentives are gaining support, Newsweek notes that environmental and community concerns—particularly around mining’s long-term impact—are often framed as secondary, rather than central, to the debate.

The article frames the crisis as both an economic and national security issue, echoing language from summit speakers that injects urgency—if not outright alarm. Quotes such as “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste” (Sen. John Hickenlooper) underscore the high-stakes framing. However, the piece stops short of a comprehensive policy critique and largely reflects the perspectives of industry and strategic interests, leaving less room for environmental, Indigenous, or social equity viewpoints.

The bottom line is based on a Rare Earth Exchanges review: Newsweek’s report offers a sobering look at the next phase of U.S. energy insecurity—not over oil but over minerals. With global supply chains strained, domestic policy in flux, and China holding the strategic high ground, America’s path to energy independence now runs through the mines, smelters, and political will required to build an alternative system of resource sovereignty.