The Whole News Digest
Here are examples of Whole News coverage. From three overlooked events, picked nearly at random, we report:
- President Trump’s nominee to lead the USGS calls for a nationwide hiring push to map critical minerals
- A coordinated activist campaign aims to frame energy-transition minerals as “green militarism,” and names BlackRock specifically
- Colorado School of Mines professors call for an overhaul of US critical mineral policy to better earn the trust of local communities
Brief #1
Trump’s USGS nominee praises fracking as model for critical minerals, calls for national mapping push
Takeaways
· Trump’s nominee for USGS director called for a federally backed mapping corps to locate domestic critical mineral deposits.
· He also called for reinstatement of a central agency to coordinate national mining strategy, filling a ‘strategic blind spot’ since the Bureau of Mines’ 1996 closure.
· He cited the fracking model as proof that deregulation, data transparency, and public–private partnerships can transform US mineral production.
· Analyst observation: Mamula repeatedly said he could not discuss policy details before confirmation, saying he had been “warned not to speak publicly” about pending plans.
The News
Ned Mamula, President Trump’s nominee to lead the US Geological Survey (USGS), called for a nationwide mapping push to identify critical mineral resources such as lithium, nickel, and rare earth elements.
Speaking at his alma mater, Penn State, he said roughly 80 percent of the country remains unmapped at the scale required to locate key deposits. He said this lack of foundational data poses a direct threat to US economic and national security.
Mamula proposed establishing a civilian “mapping corps” — a federally sponsored, tuition-for-service program that would train and deploy young geologists nationwide. The corps, modeled on military recruitment, would help rebuild a generational skills gap in U.S. resource exploration.
He also urged the reinstatement of the Bureau of Mines, describing its 1996 dissolution as “a strategic blind spot” that left the United States without centralized mineral policy or research coordination. Reestablishing such an agency, he said, would enable consistent planning across exploration, processing, and supply-chain resilience.
Mamula pointed to the fracking boom as a model for critical minerals success, crediting it with combining deregulation, data-sharing, and industry initiative to achieve energy independence. He said a similar approach could revive domestic mining if paired with public trust and transparent environmental safeguards.
He cautioned that the US remains dangerously reliant on China for mineral refining and processing. Without a renewed mapping and exploration program, he warned, the nation faces a potential “black swan” supply-chain shock that could paralyze manufacturing and defense industries.
Event Details
Event: An Embarrassment of Riches That Requires an Immediate Critical Minerals Policy Perspective
Speaker: Ned Mamula — Economic geologist; former USGS geologist; President Trump’s nominee for USGS Director
Host: Penn State College of Earth & Mineral Sciences
Date: September 8, 2025
Format: Hybrid (in-person + Zoom)
Duration: 70 minutes
Attendance: ~80 participants
Source: Verified transcript and recording
Brief #2
Anti-war and green activists seek to unite against ‘green militarism’ of Western critical minerals drive
Takeaways
· Climate, peace, and feminist activists discussed plans to unite green and anti-war groups to protest ‘green imperialism’ in the Western push for critical minerals.
· The activists participating in the webinar represented mainly small groups and the audience measured about 75 people.
· BlackRock and other asset managers were named as primary pressure targets for campaigners opposing extractive projects.
· The activists aim to recast the energy transition debate from sustainability toward accountability, linking renewables, mining, and militarization.
· Analyst observation: The participating groups are small and loosely connected. While the event revealed active coordination efforts, only 75 attended and it remains unclear how effective the effort will be.
The News
Climate and peace activists are calling for green and anti-war movements to unite to oppose what they describe as ‘green militarism’ – the use of the critical minerals boom to reinforce Western geopolitical power.
The call came during an international webinar hosted by Codepink, a US-based peace and climate justice network known for opposing US wars and military spending. The event, named ‘Critical Minerals or Imperial Plunder?’, brought together several environmental, anti-war, and social-justice groups seeking to coordinate global ‘teach-ins’ – joint public education sessions – and ‘convergence mapping’ to spur joint protest among various groups.
Ruth Rohde of Shadow World Investigations, which tracks corruption in the global arms trade, said Western governments are using the energy transition to “rebuild industrial and military dominance under the cover of decarbonization.” She argued that the same minerals used in electric vehicles, batteries, and renewable infrastructure also underpin advanced weapons, satellites, and defense electronics — creating a “dual-use” economy in which clean energy supply chains depend on military production.
Nandita Lal of the London Mining Network warned that new mining projects risk replicating “colonial extraction under a green label,” displacing communities in Africa and South America in the name of sustainability. Afreen Faridi of India’s People’s Homeland Discourse Network added that the West’s minerals strategy “outsources environmental and governance risks” to the Global South while claiming climate leadership.
Sly ‘Bloodcoltan’ Poulton, of the Congolese Action Youth Platform, urged cooperation between environmental and peace movements to “disrupt the idea that militaries can go green by mining more,” calling for coordinated campaigns to expose what he described as “militarized mining” and its human impacts.
Financial institutions were also targeted as key enablers of extractive systems. BlackRock, Vanguard and other major asset managers were cited as ‘invisible partners’ in global mining and defense supply chains through their passive index holdings. Rohde called for naming campaigns and divestment drives to move the public debate from sustainability to accountability.
By linking environmental, social, and peace movements, Codepink and its allies aim to reframe the energy transition as a geopolitical contest over extraction and control – warning that “green energy cannot be built on militarized minerals.”
Event Details
Event: Critical Minerals or Imperial Plunder
Speakers: Nandita Lal (London Mining Network); Ruth Rohde (Shadow World Investigations); Afreen Faridi (People’s Homeland Discourse Network, India); Sly “Bloodcoltan” Poulton (Congolese Action Youth Platform)
Host: Codepink (U.S. peace and climate justice organization)
Date: September 16, 2025
Format: Online webinar (Zoom)
Duration: ~90 minutes
Attendance: ~75 participants
Source: Verified analyst transcript and recording
Brief #3
Colorado School of Mines profs call for data-sharing, local hiring to build community trust in critical minerals drive
Takeaways
· Two assistant professors at a top US mining school said authorities and mining companies must involve local communities in planning earlier than they currently do to build trust and inclusion.
· The academics recommended public dashboards, local hiring, and open environmental monitoring to demonstrate progress and fairness.
· They warned that focusing on national or industrial priorities over local interests risks public resistance and project failure.
· Analyst observation: The academics acknowledged that scaling their approach across US mining projects would require institutional support and new data infrastructure that does not yet exist.
The News
The US risks derailing its critical-minerals ambitions unless local communities are treated as partners, not afterthoughts, researchers from the Colorado School of Mines said a US Department of Energy Critical Materials Innovation Hub webinar.
Nicole Smith and Aaron Malone – who advise mining firms and US agencies on community engagement and resource governance – said current US permitting practices involve communities too late, after technical and financial decisions are already locked in.
“By the time locals are asked for input, the project is a fait accompli,” said Smith, a mining anthropologist and assistant professor in the school’s Mining Engineering Department. “That’s a design flaw, not a communication problem.”
They urged the government and industry to embed “trust-first” engagement into every stage of planning — beginning before exploration maps are drawn. Smith said social scientists and community mediators should be integrated early to surface local priorities and prevent future conflict.
The pair outlined several practical measures: hire locally; build public dashboards with live data on water quality, restoration, and job delivery; and give residents a role in oversight. Malone, a research assistant professor in the Division of Economics and Business, said such mechanisms would turn accountability from “press-release promises into daily performance metrics.”
Without those steps, they warned, even well-funded projects could face resistance, delays, or collapse.
“Public trust is the mineral that makes every other one possible,” Malone said.
Event Details
Event: Do Critical Minerals Narratives Resonate? Community Perspectives on the Critical Minerals Boom
Speakers: Nicole Smith — Assistant Professor, Mining Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines; Aaron Malone — Research Assistant Professor, Division of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines
Host: US Department of Energy – Critical Materials Innovation Hub
Date: September 30, 2025
Format: 60-minute live webinar (public, registration required)
Attendance: ~110 participants
Source: Verified DOE recording and analyst transcript
