In a sign that at least some people understand that you have to use Earth’s natural resources to develop any form of fuel energy, a U.S. judge has denied opponents’ efforts to block the construction of a lithium mine at the nation’s largest known deposit of the rare metal widely used in rechargeable batteries.
The ruling marks a significant victory for Canada-based Lithium Americas Corp. at its subsidiary’s project near Nevada’s border with Oregon, and a setback — at least for now — for conservationists, tribes and a Nevada rancher who have all been fighting it for two years. The opponents said they are considering an appeal based in part on growing questions raised about the reach of an 150-year-old mining law.It’s the latest development in a series of high-stakes legal battles that pit environmentalists and others against so-called “green energy” projects President Joe Biden’s administration is pushing to help speed the nation’s transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.The White House says the mine on the Nevada-Oregon line is critical to ramped up efforts to producing raw materials for electric vehicle batteries.
As I noted, the Biden administration had been clashing with conservation groups and Native American tribes over this mine.
The judge also required the Bureau of Land Management, which has been dragging its heels only on anything related to fossil fuel development, to beef up its required environmental impact assessment for the mine.
But U.S. District Judge Miranda Du in her ruling also asked the Bureau of Land Management to revisit a portion of its environmental analysis. The agency violated federal law by failing to validate that developer Lithium Americas Corp. has the rights to dump waste and tailings on about 1,300 acres at the site in Humboldt County, the judge concluded.While the court’s decision is a setback for environmental groups, nearby Indigenous communities and a local rancher opposed to the project, it marks a significant milestone for the mine, which would be built on 5,700 acres of federal land in north Nevada.
The eco-activists are disappointed, but they will persist.
In a statement, Western Watersheds Project, one of the plaintiffs, expressed disappointment at the green light for the project but called it a victory that BLM will have to demonstrate lack of environmental harms.“We don’t know yet what the next steps will be, but we know we won’t stop fighting this destructive mine,” Greta Anderson, deputy director of Western Watersheds Project, said in a statement. “We need to find truly just and sustainable solutions for the climate crisis, and not by digging ourselves deeper into the biodiversity crisis.”
Meanwhile, both the mining company is happy with the ruling. And one auto manufacturer plans to pour millions into the mine’s development.
“The favorable ruling leaves in place the final regulatory approval needed in moving Thacker Pass into construction,” Jonathan Evans, Lithium Americas’ president and CEO, said in a statement Tuesday. The company expects production to begin in the second half of 2026.Last week, General Motors Co. announced it had conditionally agreed to invest $650 million in Lithium Americas in a deal that will give GM exclusive access to the first phase of the Thacker Pass mine. The equity investment is contingent on the project clearing the final environmental and legal challenges it faces in federal court in Reno.
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