American Resources Policy Network is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that advocates increased mining of metals and minerals in the United States. The group is a critic of the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. government’s bureaucracy as a whole for overregulation that it claims is the biggest hindrance to exploiting American natural resources. ¹

The group is a major advocate of the domestic mining of copper, which the group sees as a gateway mineral which could provide access to other important minerals that are often in too minor of a concentration to mine alone. ²

Background

The Carmot Strategy Group founded the American Resources Policy Network in 2011 to raise awareness over the importation of important minerals and metals and to build support for increased domestic mining. The group argues that countries all around the world were building up mineral reserves, were cutting exports of metals and minerals, and were developing their own mineral resources and raised questions about whether this would harm the American economy. ³

The group focused on domestic mining policies and wondered if those policies were harming the American economy and the mining sector. The group called for the reduction on the need for imported minerals and for the development of domestic mining. ³

Advocacy

Mined in America Campaign

In 2012, the American Resources Policy Network brought together business and organized labor to launch the Mined in America campaign to support more domestic mining. The campaign recruited 92 local, state, and international unions in support and activated more than 15,000 voters in key congressional districts. ⁴

Call For Mining In America And For More Domestic Manufacturing

In September 2012, the American Resources Policy Network’s president Daniel McGroarty wrote an op-ed calling for more mining in the U.S. to bring about a revival in domestic manufacturing. He pointed out that politicians in both parties were calling for more domestic manufacturing jobs and energy independence to rebuild the American economy. McGroarty pointed out that manufacturers needed access to raw materials and minerals to produce the goods they try to sell. McGroarty pointed out that if the manufacturers had better access to reliable sources of domestically mined minerals, manufacturers would not have to reduce costs by eliminating jobs. ¹

McGroarty pointed out that the United States has significant mineral deposits, but it does a poor job of mining them. He blamed bureaucratic red tape and an activist Environmental Protection Agency which causes it to be 10 years before a mine becomes operation and starts producing minerals. ¹

Gateway Metals

The American Resources Policy Network calls the common metals aluminum, copper, and zinc “gateway metals” because all three metals produce rare and high-tech metals. For example, copper, which is a commonly used metal, produces rhenium, used in semiconductors, and selenium, which is used in solar cells. ¹

In April 2015, the group’s president Daniel McGroarty warned of a shortfall of copper, and the minerals produced as by-products of copper mining, that could harm America’s national defense. Copper is the second widely used metal in the manufacture of military equipment. ²

People

The American Resources Policy Network’s president is Daniel McGroarty. McGroarty is also the principal of the Carmot Strategy Group, which established the group. McGroarty is also a senior advisor to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce International Division. Before he became a consultant, McGroarty worked in the George H.W. Bush administration. ⁵

Many of the group’s officially listed experts come from the mining industry. ⁶

1. McGroarty, Daniel. “Daniel McGroarty: ’made in America Starts with ‘Mined in America.’” Pioneer Press, November 10, 2015. https://www.twincities.com/2012/09/23/daniel-mcgroarty-made-in-america-starts-with-mined-in-america/.
2. “Minerals and Metals Play a Key Role in Our National Defense.” Minerals Make Life, April 15, 2015. https://mineralsmakelife.org/blog/minerals-and-metals-play-a-key-role-in-our-national-defense/.
3. “American Resources Policy Network Launches.” American Resources Policy Network, May 9, 2011. https://americanresources.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ARPN_Launches_5.9.11.pdf.
4. “ARPN Fact Book.” American Resources Policy Network. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://americanresources.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/ARPN-Fact-Book.pdf.
5. “Daniel McGroarty.” American Resources Policy Network. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://americanresources.org/experts/dmcgroarty/.
6. “Our Experts.” American Resources Policy Network. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://americanresources.org/our-experts/.