U.S. production of rare earth elements continues to move up the political agenda and Alaska's deposits remain at the center of the issue.
On Friday, Alaska Sens. Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski joined with Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman in a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asking that the Department of Defense catalog its need for the obscure yet important elements by identifying the sources and types of materials found in U.S. weapons systems.
"Our modern technological economy, from hybrid cars to direct drive windmills to consumer electronics, requires rare earth dependent components and will impact product availability," the lawmakers said. "Fully understanding the aggregate demand for rare earth materials and necessity of the demand will be essential to understanding the supply limits, the future market and formulating U.S. policy on these materials."
China currently produces and supplies about 97 percent of the rare earth elements used by countries around the world. Policymakers fear that China is cutting back on production -- some believe to drive up the cost -- but causing concerns that vital defense systems and other high-tech needs will be compromised.
Alaska has one rare earth elements mine, the Bokan Mountain Mine on Prince Wales Island southwest of Ketchikan. It's thought to be one of the three largest sources of REEs in the U.S.
Read more about Alaska's REEs:
"Rare earth elements Alaska's resource future?"
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell has asked for $500,000 in the fiscal year 2012 budget that lawmakers are now beginning to consider to conduct a strategic assessment of REEs in Alaska. The Interior, the Seward Peninsula near Nome and the Ambler mining district on the south slope of the Brooks Range are thought to hold potentially significant deposits of rare earths along with southeast Alaska. Parnell has called Alaska's deposits "a new set of resources for our nation."
But Begich, Murkowski and Coffman are worried that the Defense Department in particular isn't paying as close attention as necessary to the rare earth issue and the potential lack of supply because of the situation with China. They called supply limitations "a serious vulnerability to our national security."
"Yet early indications are the DoD has dismissed the severity of the situation to date," they wrote, asking that the Defense Department figure out what sorts of REEs it needs so the government can implement better policies about maintaining the supply and where it will come from.
Contact Patti Epler at patti(at)alaskadispatch.com