Tribal activists oppose Nevada mine key to Biden’s clean energy agenda as ‘green colonialism’

By MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press

OROVADA, Nevada (AP) — A huge lithium mine under construction in northern Nevada is at the center of a dispute over President Joe Biden’s clean energy agenda. The administration says the mine will produce battery material needed to meet Biden’s goal for half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030. But Native American tribes and environmentalists say the mine at Thacker Pass will harm wildlife habitats, degrade groundwater and pollute the air in a remote area dotted with sagebrush. The mine also could destroy a sacred site where U.S. troops massacred dozens of Paiute tribal members after the Civil War. One activist calls the mine “green colonialism″ that will irreparably harm Indigenous people.