‘Critical minerals’ will shape NW future. Free Tri-City forum on why you should care

Did you know the average electric vehicle uses six times more mineral inputs than a conventional car?

Or that the tiny chips inside your smartphone depend on dozens of elements – from cobalt to gallium to tantalum – that don’t exactly come up in everyday conversation?

What’s more, many of the materials that will power our region’s reliable energy future – from grid-scale batteries to advanced nuclear reactors – come from supply chains that stretch across the globe, often through places where the United States has little control.

Critical minerals may sound like an abstract policy term. In reality, they are the building blocks of modern life and a growing focus of national security, economic development and energy policy conversations right here in the Pacific Northwest.

That’s why Washington State University Tri-Cities’ Institute for Northwest Energy Futures (INEF) is hosting a community-focused public forum, “Digging for Energy: Why Critical Minerals Matter” at 3:30 p.m. March 10 on the WSU Tri-Cities campus.

Moderated by the Tri-City Development Council’s (TRIDEC) Energy Forward Alliance, the panel will feature regional experts from academia, industry associations, and research institutions working at the forefront of these issues.

We’ll hear from researchers at WSU studying materials science and energy systems; from the Spokane Valley–based American Mining and Exploration Association, which works to educate communities about responsible mining and mineral supply chains; from scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, whose work on advanced materials and manufacturing is helping the United States better understand, recover, and reuse critical elements; and from leaders of the Joint Center for Deployment and Research in Earth

Abundant Materials (JCDREAM), a national partnership focused on finding alternatives to scarce minerals in current and emerging energy technologies. Together, these entities represent the kind of Northwest leadership that has long shaped America’s energy innovation story – from the Hanford Site’s Manhattan Project legacy to the work currently underway right in our backyard on advanced reactors, grid modernization, and clean manufacturing.

Critical minerals are essential not just for energy. They are embedded in agriculture technology, aerospace manufacturing, medical imaging, data centers, defense systems, and consumer electronics. They are part of what keeps our Northwest economy competitive and communities across the nation secure.

For those of us working on the Tri-Cities’ growing advanced energy ecosystem – from clean manufacturing opportunities to AI data centers to next-generation nuclear projects emerging across our region – understanding critical minerals is part of planning responsibly for the future. It means thinking about where materials come from, how they are processed, how we recycle them, how state and federal policies impact these processes, and how we ensure supply chains are resilient, ethical, and environmentally sound – including by securing more of these supply chains domestically.

The Pacific Northwest has an important role to play. Our universities, national labs, workforce programs, and industry groups are helping shape solutions that further environmental stewardship, economic opportunity, and national security.

That’s the goal of this March 10 forum: a welcoming, informative discussion for students, business leaders, policymakers, and community members alike.

No prior expertise required – just curiosity about how the elements of the periodic table connect to the technologies we rely upon every day. We hope you will take this opportunity to learn, ask questions, and engage in these important conversations with us.

Critical minerals may be invisible to most of us. But they are central to the next chapter of American innovation – and to the Northwest’s role in it. We hope you’ll join us.

You can find out more about this event and RSVP at: http://bit.ly/INEF-CF26

Noel Schulz is the inaugural director of WSU Tri-Cities’ Institute for Northwest Energy Futures and Bob Ferguson Endowed Professor. Sean V. O’Brien is executive director of the Energy Forward Alliance, a clean energy nonprofit subsidiary of the Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC).