Grist: “The Year the US Doubled Down on Critical Minerals”
RFF Fellow Beia Spiller comments on the federal government’s use of equity stakes to bolster the domestic critical minerals industry.
“Historically, the federal government has only taken equity stakes in struggling companies, such as through the Troubled Asset Relief Program that sought to stabilize the auto industry and U.S. banks during the 2008 financial crisis. ‘What we’re talking about here is something very different, which is an industry that has not yet launched,’ said Beia Spiller, who leads critical minerals work at the nonprofit research group Resources for the Future.
‘Whether that’s going to work, I think is unlikely,’ Spiller continued. ‘The best way to get an industry up and running is to have policies that raise the tide for everyone, not just choosing winners.’”
