China and India, in their efforts to secure U.S. supplies of energy and minerals for their people, are cornering those markets in a way that could jeopardize domestic supplies.
That was the warning given by Vince Matthews, director of the Colorado Geological Survey, during his luncheon talk to the Energy Minerals Division at the AAPG Annual Convention.
Matthews presented multiple charts, graphs and tables that showed how China and India’s demand for energy and import-export trends threaten to take valuable resources out of the United States -- and, in speaking specifically to the area he knows most about, Colorado.
“Chinese companies and their rivals are scouring the globe,” he said, quoting Bloomberg News, “for access to the raw materials needed to sustain the Asian nation’s growth as commodity prices surge.”
This is happening because those countries realize their own production is unable to match their peoples’ need.
The long list of U.S. items that are being sought and secured included energy items such as oil, natural gas, coal, uranium and molybdenum, plus other commodities and items like lead, nickel, copper, steel and even cement.
The impact on his state is:
- Colorado will suffer from the effects of inflation.
- Residents will see increasing shortages of raw materials.
- Pressures will mount to develop more state natural resources.
- Conflicts may arise with multi-national corporations operating in the state.
Worse, no easy answers seem to exist to halt what he sees as a looming crisis.
“I don’t like throwing out problems without solutions, but that’s what I’ve done,” he said.
The answer, he believes, lies in education.
“Nothing can be done about it until the people know about it,” he said. “I’d love to have your ideas on it.”