Rep. Ryan Zinke, after his confrontation with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland earlier this week about the blocking of domestic mining for critical minerals that will be needed to achieve environmental targets, told Newsmax Thursday that the Biden administration has no solutions and no answers.
"This administration is blindly walking toe-to-toe into nuclear combat in Ukraine," the Montana Republican, who served as interior secretary under former President Donald Trump, said on Newsmax's "John Bachman Now." "They have no idea what they're doing on EV [electric vehicles]. They are blindly going forth on policies. They have no solutions. They have no answers. And quite frankly, it's staggering."
During Tuesday's hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Zinke grilled Haaland on whether the critical materials needed for EVs should be sourced from the United States or its allies, or from Russia and China, reports The Washington Post.
He also asked her a series of questions, including whether she was "aware that northern Minnesota is home to those critical minerals that are necessary for EVs and our Defense Department."
The question appeared to be about the Biden administration's January decision banning mining for copper, nickel, and other materials for the next 20 years in a watershed near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.
"I think there are critical minerals across our country," she told him, pointing out that her department is also working "on identifying those critical minerals within the U.S. Geological Survey."
But Zinke told Newsmax that what is known is the United States is "beholden to China for critical minerals that are used in EV or defense, and this administration's leaping blindly off the cliff to support EV. That just makes us more vulnerable and dependent upon our adversary. That is clear; it is not in dispute."
Zinke further accused Haaland of being more focused on the nation's "Indigenous people and the environment," not the needs of the country.
"My focus is on national security and making sure that we don't blindly go into dependency with China ... we have to stop before we go further in this," he said. "We've got to make sure the supply chain is controlled by the U.S. or our allies."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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