President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, invoking wartime powers, to increase the production of critical minerals like uranium, copper, and gold through the expansion of leasing and development on federal lands through the Defense Production Act.
The order, titled “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production,” seeks to “boost American mineral production, streamline permitting, and enhance national security,” a White House fact sheet stated.
Under the order, agencies have been directed to compile a list of all mineral production projects that have submitted approval requests to the agency to in order to expedite the review of those projects and invokes the Defense Production Act.
The act was passed in 1950 in response to the Korean War and gives more power to government to direct industrial production.
Trump also used the act in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Within 30 days of the order being signed, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Energy have been ordered to identify “as many sites as possible on Federal land managed by their respective agencies that may be suitable for leasing or development” for the construction and operation