The February 14, 2024, Wall Street Journal examined the discovery of 2.34 billion metric tons of rare-earth minerals in Wyoming. These minerals, if mined, are estimated to put the United States ahead of China in the race to produce computer chips, smartphones and more. This discover also reflects the fact that:
A. There is a growing imbalance between the amount of rare-earth minerals that are needed to produce these goods and the amount of minerals readily available.
B. This discovery, if mined, will not eliminate the problem of scarcity for cell phone and computer chip manufacturers.
C. There will be a tradeoff between mining these minerals and environmental protection in this area of Wyoming.
D. The opportunity cost of protecting this area from the effects of mining would be the potential loss of any long-term comparative advantage the U.S. might have in rare-earth minerals.
E. All the above.