Just before I published "When Land I Love Holds Lithium" (June 10, 2023), about Max Wilbert's work to protect Thacker Pass, Nevad, from lithium mining, Lithium Nevada Corporation sued Max and six others for Civil Conspiracy, Nuisance, Trespass, Tortious Interference with Contractual Relations, Tortious Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage and Unjust Enrichment ("profiting" by fundraising for expenses to protect Thacker Pass).
To clarify, anything with a battery--a flip phone, a smartphone, a laptop, an off-grid solar PV system, an electric vehicle--likely holds lithium.
To further clarify, manufacturing any electronic item demands mining multiple ores. Neither e-vehicles nor other electronics prevent loss of wildlife habitat. Every electronic device requires infrastructure that poses severe fire hazards. No electronic device biodegrades. Before calling any battery-dependent item (i.e. an e-bike, e-vehicle, solar PV installation or mobile computer) "green," measure its ecological impacts from its cradle to its grave.
The big issue here is Overshoot: over-production, over-consumption. Climate change, toxic waste, biodiversity loss, economic inequalities--are all consequences of overshoot.
Max and his colleagues see Lithium Nevada Corporation's lawsuit as an opportunity to put lithium mining--and unlimited, unregulated growth--on trial.
Here's ProtectThackerPass's press release about the suit.
Just after I published "When Land I Love Holds Lithium," presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tweeted it, saying, "Let's make sure that the quest for clean energy doesn't sacrifice places and ecosystems."
