Corri Feige, former Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, will discuss the enormous increase in critical mineral consumption that energy transition and electrification will demand, and how Alaska and the rest of the Arctic will be pivotal in meeting that need. Feige will also discuss the necessary permitting and policy reform that will be required to deliver the US’s stated decarbonization goals. At present, the Federal government has a contradictory and confusing policy position regarding domestic mining that must be reversed if the US is to lead the world in energy transition. Feige will talk about these policies and how much of our destiny lies in the hands of foreign nations – not all of them friendly - where critical minerals mining is done without the same level of environmental rigor as is required in Alaska, yet receives both financial and policy support of the US government. The road to energy transition is icy and anything but smooth!