Joe, you are completely incorrect.  The Obama Administration helped create a consortium called the Critical Materials Institute with over 120 million dollars (over five years) to work on projects like recovering rare earths from mining waste.  This current administration wants to cut research funding...the exact funding that helps the US push technologies forward and stay ahead of global competition.  It boggles my mind that you would make comments that are erroneous when it is so easy to use Google to search and learn BEFORE posting...

In January 2013 the Department of Energy announced the establishment of the Critical Materials Institute (CMI) at Ames Laboratory, with a mission to develop solutions to the domestic shortages of rare earth metals and other materials critical for U.S. energy security.