Not sure what to make of this Harvard article.It promotes a new...

Not sure what to make of this Harvard article.
It promotes a new biological process developed at Harvard for the extraction of REE without leaching (likely to take decades to become an established method if it is successful) and also alternative extraction of REE from coal ash without any attempt to show whether this is economically viable or able to meet demand to any degree.
It comments on the already well known environmental impacts from uncontrolled mining in China, which the authorities there have indeed been endeavouring to eliminate.
It gives a superficial acknowledgement of responsible processing in Western jurisdictions, which pretty much means Lynas as the only integrated miner and processor of REE outside of China today.
On the whole, it puts forward environmental scare tactics and refers to initiatives to avoid the use of REE by BMW and Renault as positive, if not necessary alternatives apart from the Harvard treatment.
All in all, a rather shallow opinion piece by someone who wants to have an article published.