1 min read

Season 3, Episode 57

To meet U.S. tech needs, more minerals need to be mined domestically

Guest Name:


Emil Ramirez

Guest Website:


www.usw.org/districts/11

Guest Social Media:


Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Supportive Documents:


United Steelworkers (USW) District 11 Director Emil Ramirez joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed the need to increase domestic mining of the precious metals required to manufacture solar panels, wind turbines, electric car batteries and other technologies.

District 11 includes the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

As the world transitions toward a green economy, people tend to forget precious metals are needed for green technologies, as well as smartphones, tablets and other computer components, Ramirez said.

Many of these precious metals are currently mined in China and Russia, but the U.S. has sizable mines including nickel, cobalt and other precious mineral resources within its borders.To maintain its manufacturing independence, the U.S. needs to increase the amount of mined materials domestically, he added.

Ramirez also spoke about responsible mining practices that can harvest these materials in ways that are sustainable to the environment, as well as local communities. He spoke of Good Neighbors Agreements, which set measurable environmental and community standards in order to minimize the negative impact of mining.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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