People of Red Mountain: Life & Lithium in Nevada's Thacker Pass | US AS WE ARE
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 พ.ย. 2023
- We visit the McDermitt Caldera in Northern Nevada, where the largest known deposit of lithium on Earth was recently discovered. The Lithium Americas mine at Thacker Pass, also known as Peehee Mu'huh, is beginning its pit excavation. Lithium is a major component in batteries for electric cars and other renewable energy technologies and is often cited as an essential part of a "green future." However, a local group of indigenous environmental activists called People of Red Mountain have come out against the mining interests which have entered the region, pointing to the environmental costs of lithium mining itself.
I completely agree with the Native peoples objecting to this lithium mining. That said . . . I can't help but laugh at the dilemma facing those pushing the move to battery powered vehicles for everyone. . . . with the lack of necessary minerals like Lithium. To Mine or Not to Mine !!!
In the grander scheme of things you have winners and losers. If America continues to stop advancement there's only one route left for us. Native Americans are prime example of a group of people who were dominated by another advanced civilization. Learn from history please
❤I love my ppl Aztec for life
I hung out at the Peehee Mu’huh camp a bit before the mine broke ground -- it's so sad to see how far it's progressed since then. As a non-Native settler, I also was divided at first. That mine and destruction of ecology and culture definitely isn't the answer, but I also can't give a handy response for what IS the answer to our climate crisis. What I was often told was something along the lines of: greenwashing won't save us. We can't expect to continue business as usual but electrified -- have the same patterns of consumption, drive everywhere at the drop of a hat, order anything we want and get it within a day -- but have it magically be ok because it's electric now. The massive overconsumption and underlying utilitarian view of the world as nothing more than “natural resources” for our infinite economic growth has been driving the problem from the beginning. As you can see, there's still a lot of destruction that goes into getting lithium, not to mention cobalt which is also in the batteries I believe. So, rather than "green"ing our current paradigm, we need to SHIFT our entire culture of consumption and use less energy overall. Hearing that I was like -- well of course, that’d be great. But, we need to get to 0 carbon emissions within a decade or two, God willing. Shifting our neoliberal society's ways of life so quickly probably isn't going to happen without some VERY STRONG measures that I don't see our governments being at all willing to promulgate. So like, in a perfect world, these activists are right; just living my same life as now but with an electric vehicle isn't really changing a lot of the problematic relationships with nature that got us here in the first place. Colonialism and environmental destruction, genocide and ecocide, have always gone hand in hand, and this is just more of that. We stole their land, industrialized, got ourselves and everyone else into this mess, and now we want to destroy MORE sacred land to theoretically bail us out while their communities suffer the consequences AGAIN? But then, it feels like if we’re being practical, we DO need to electrify at the end of the day.
That said, there are some resources that were shared with me that helped me see there may be some sort of middle road, a way forward without destroying places like Peehee Mu'huh, and I hope others will take a look at this. An analysis by the Climate and Community Project calculated that lithium demand can be reduced by up to 92% in 2050 in comparison to most lithium-intensive scenarios, even while relying less on fossil fuels. According to the study, this would happen if we a) decreased car dependency (invested more in electrifying mass transit for example), b) decreased EV battery size (that alone could cut lithium demand by around 40%) and c) created a robust recycling system. A summary of the report can be found here: www.climateandcommunity.org/more-mobility-less-mining. I also have some measure of hope in reading how other battery chemistries that don’t rely on lithium are becoming more viable (e.g. sodium batteries, chitin-zinc batteries, nanoelectrofuel batteries. Still have their issues but worth looking into). Of course, mining is mining, and there are still huge issues with environmental destruction and colonial land theft, but I have to hope that at least if the minerals aren’t as rare as lithium and cobalt, we could hopefully spread the impacts more equitably. I also want to mention it’s not a forgone conclusion that the lithium from the Thacker Pass mine will even go to the grand goal of EVs - it might just go to making more computers and phones. And regardless of whether it’s supposedly helping the planet or not, is it really tenable to destroy a sacred area with so much old-growth sagebrush and cultural meaning so that wealthy white people can maintain our current lifestyle but just feel a little less guilty about it? Hopefully EVs will become more accessible, but still. Take a look in the mirror and reckon with the depth of changes we actually have to make.
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This is horrific, destroying Mother Earth!!
LAND BACK!
Stop the Lithium mining. This land belongs to the Paiute/Shoshone Nations. Wocikeya po Mitakuyapi. Wopida.(thank you my Relatives, Pray about it)
they should link with the darker people they have the same problem as the all the oppressed of the world do the group with the most differences juxtaposed all others small differences.
@14:08 haha lmao
Canada owns the US by way of the Queen of Kannada. Washington DC is a province of Canada.
No more lies this aware ppl u just don’t know the truth Rest In Peace old family my your sold be with the king yeshua
Everybody should work for the better of all . Your looking at it make a real garden ya grow blueberry farms it’s dead get the lithium out grow fields of the herbs do it better
Don’t limite to what it is make it real stop it all u are wrong listen to a sister, build a beatiful pristine garden of what it need to be. Minerals don’t fix it we do not a bunch of ok that’s good enough grow a park of life grow more grow better no pesticide think bigger
The whole thing seems like there is no right answer. I guess we could go back to riding horses but that has an environmental impact too.
One big thing I learned reporting on this story, and in reporting I’m doing on climate change and renewable energy for a different project, is that *everything* has in environmental impact. Just being alive technically puts CO2 into the atmosphere. The question I’ve become interested in isn’t so much “how to avoid having an impact” but “what impacts are actually most sustainable?” In nature all kinds of animals leave a mark on the environment they live in, but not generally a “harmful” mark. We as humans might be able to find a way to live while having a similarly non-harmful impact on the environment.
@@UsAsWeAre You are 100% correct. Just being alive impacts the environment. The extreme answer would be: eliminate all people and animals since we negatively impact the environment. So should we stop having babies or get rid of dogs and cats? I'm joking of course but there are extreme levels to some of this topic.. I thought it was very interesting in your video that the mining company (ticker LAC) said they would put it all back together when they were done in 40 years. But as the woman you interviewed said - they just leave when they are done. BLM, who operates on our taxes, should require that 'clean up' process as a requirement for granting drilling rights. Hopefully they come through and can put it back the way it was (don't hold your breath). A very interesting video and a topic worth discussion and attention. Well done.
The answer is redesigning our communities so we don't have to rely on cars, infrastructure for bicycles and trains is very obtainable and can be done quicker that a whole new system for electric cars. Big cities really have no need for cars, New York is a good example. Online commerce is another innovation that bypasses vehicles as well, it's the reason why malls are closing, why drive in traffic to a store where you're not guaranteed the product can be there when you can order it online? It's really about money and real environmental solutions are not being considered.
@@doct0rnic Valid points. I commented to my friend that I haven't gone out 'shopping' in a long, long time. I think the traditional brick and mortar malls exist just because people want to get out of the house for a while and walk around. Target is still packed on weekends though.
amazing project comming along !!! ⚡🔋♻🦾
About to come to a grinding halt if the pictures get out. You just hold onto your pants, okay? LIFE OVER LITHIUM BABY
I hung out at the Peehee Mu’huh camp a bit before the mine broke ground -- it's so sad to see how far it's progressed since then. As a non-Native settler, I also was divided at first. That mine and destruction of ecology and culture definitely isn't the answer, but I also can't give a handy response for what IS the answer to our climate crisis. What I was often told was something along the lines of: greenwashing won't save us. We can't expect to continue business as usual but electrified -- have the same patterns of consumption, drive everywhere at the drop of a hat, order anything we want and get it within a day -- but have it magically be ok because it's electric now. The massive overconsumption and underlying utilitarian view of the world as nothing more than “natural resources” for our infinite economic growth has been driving the problem from the beginning. As you can see, there's still a lot of destruction that goes into getting lithium, not to mention cobalt which is also in the batteries I believe. So, rather than "green"ing our current paradigm, we need to SHIFT our entire culture of consumption and use less energy overall. Hearing that I was like -- well of course, that’d be great. But, we need to get to 0 carbon emissions within a decade or two, God willing. Shifting our neoliberal society's ways of life so quickly probably isn't going to happen without some VERY STRONG measures that I don't see our governments being at all willing to promulgate. So like, in a perfect world, these activists are right; just living my same life as now but with an electric vehicle isn't really changing a lot of the problematic relationships with nature that got us here in the first place. Colonialism and environmental destruction, genocide and ecocide, have always gone hand in hand, and this is just more of that. We stole their land, industrialized, got ourselves and everyone else into this mess, and now we want to destroy MORE sacred land to theoretically bail us out while their communities suffer the consequences AGAIN? But then, it feels like if we’re being practical, we DO need to electrify at the end of the day.
That said, there are some resources that were shared with me that helped me see there may be some sort of middle road, a way forward without destroying places like Peehee Mu'huh, and I hope others will take a look at this. An analysis by the Climate and Community Project calculated that lithium demand can be reduced by up to 92% in 2050 in comparison to most lithium-intensive scenarios, even while relying less on fossil fuels. According to the study, this would happen if we a) decreased car dependency (invested more in electrifying mass transit for example), b) decreased EV battery size (that alone could cut lithium demand by around 40%) and c) created a robust recycling system. A summary of the report can be found here: www.climateandcommunity.org/more-mobility-less-mining. I also have some measure of hope in reading how other battery chemistries that don’t rely on lithium are becoming more viable (e.g. sodium batteries, chitin-zinc batteries, nanoelectrofuel batteries. Still have their issues but worth looking into). Of course, mining is mining, and there are still huge issues with environmental destruction and colonial land theft, but I have to hope that at least if the minerals aren’t as rare as lithium and cobalt, we could hopefully spread the impacts more equitably. I also want to mention it’s not a forgone conclusion that the lithium from the Thacker Pass mine will even go to the grand goal of EVs - it might just go to making more computers and phones. And regardless of whether it’s supposedly helping the planet or not, is it really tenable to destroy a sacred area with so much old-growth sagebrush and cultural meaning so that wealthy white people can maintain our current lifestyle but just feel a little less guilty about it? Hopefully EVs will become more accessible, but still. Take a look in the mirror and reckon with the depth of changes we actually have to make.