Lithium Wars: Part 1

I spent the day packing and preparing everything I need to go out to Nevada tomorrow. We’re heading to Thacker Pass and Rhyolite Ridge, the proposed sites for two major, massive lithium mines that are being proposed in order to supply the electric car industry primarily, and the energy storage industry for grid energy storage with the lithium they need for batteries.

I’m feeling some trepidation. We’ve heard from some people that there could be some shady characters around the Rhyolite ridge area. There have been acts of vandalism and destruction against the endangered plant Tiehm’s buckwheat who lives on the Rhyolite ridge site, and I’m a little nervous about what we’re going to find when we get out there.

But I’m really looking forward to seeing the land, to connecting with the land, to meeting the creatures who live there, to meeting that place in the hopes that, you know, we can bring its voice to the world and to a broader audience. People don’t fight for what they don’t know and so the goal here is to show people what’s really at stake with these places. People think of Nevada as an open sandy desert and anybody who’s spent time there, anybody who’s gotten out of the car, gotten out of Las Vegas knows that that’s not the case at all. It’s incredibly beautiful. It’s incredibly wild and remote and full of life and beauty. And I feel really honored and blessed to be called to go there, even though it is in service, in defense against this type of horrible project. So, we’ll see what happens.