Maximizing Minerals at Home, with Beia Spiller

About this episode

Kristin Hayes interviews Beia Spiller about new research on critical minerals and their implications for US policy and market dynamics.

In this episode, host Kristin Hayes is joined by Beia Spiller, a fellow and director of the transportation program at Resources for the Future (RFF), to explore new RFF research findings on critical minerals. (Note that this podcast episode is a sneak preview of a forthcoming report! We will add a link to the report in the show notes once the research has been released on the RFF website. Stay tuned.) To understand contemporary market dynamics for critical minerals, Spiller says that one must understand the history of mineral extraction in the United States. With high operational costs, explained in part by environmental regulations and workforce limitations, and with overseas firms bypassing many of these expenses, the US supply of critical minerals lies at the intersection of national security and global market tensions. While critical mineral policies in recent history have taken varied approaches—bilateral, multilateral, plurilateral, and more—evaluating the efficacy and implications of these policies is key to understanding which mechanisms actually advance US goals. Spiller argues that effectively addressing this “critical” issue requires a clear prioritization of policy…

People in this episode

Host: Kristin Hayes

Guest: Beia Spiller

Topics covered

• critical minerals
• mineral extraction
• US supply chain
• national security
• market dynamics

Keywords

• Resources for the Future
• transportation program
• environmental regulations
• workforce limitations

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Critical Minerals Research Lab

Books & works: Maximizing Minerals at Home, Burn Book, Future of Travel: Is It Boom or Bust Time, Pivot

Places: the United States, US

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