News

Clean Energy Transition Cannot Be Built on Dirty Mining.

March 31, 2022By 1 Comment

“We deeply oppose President Biden’s executive order for the Defense Production Act for precious minerals,” said Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone tribal member Day Hinkey, who is part of the group Atsa Koodakuh wyh Nuwu, or the People of Red Mountain. “I believe this is gonna be the second coming of environmental destruction. The first we’re in now is the climate crisis from the fossil fuel industry, and I believe this next one will be lithium mining.”

“Water is life. That’s not just a slogan, it’s what we all need to survive.”

Hinkey, who raised concerns about the destruction of cultural lands and elimination of Indigenous history, added that “water is life. That’s not just a slogan, it’s what we all need to survive. In this climate right now, we are suffering in drought, and everyone needs water. Lithium is going to contaminate a ton of water. We need this water to survive for drinking water and our foods.”

Read the full article here at Common Dreams

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Opinion

Our ancestors’ burial site is no place for a mine

March 21, 2022By

Some will tell you that we must mine our way out of the climate crisis. They will tell you that places like Thacker Pass must be sacrificed. But those of us who trace our ancestry to this place, and still rely on its resources for our way of life, reject that idea. Yes, we must act to address the urgent challenge of climate change, for ours and future generations. But we must do so without replacing dirty oil with dirty mining that desecrates the cultural resources and sacred sites of Indigenous peoples.

Lithium mining at Thacker Pass will take advantage of already impacted tribal communities and strip them of their cultural history. Do not tell us that this is the cost of progress. We are not prepared to sacrifice our burial grounds, or the places where we still hunt, fish and gather food.

Read the rest here at the Reno-Gazette Journal

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