On January 15th we setup a protest encampment here at Thacker Pass which has now stood forty six days. We are questioning the narrative of progress that is leading places like this to be destroyed.

Transcript

Max: Hey, everyone. It’s Max out here at Thacker Pass. I just wanted to make a video to reach out to folks. To let you know what we really need out here right now. Our biggest need, as we’ve been saying, is more people to come out to camp. We need folks to visit short-term, long-term, and we especially need some folks to step up and dedicate themselves to this campaign, you know, to make a commitment to Thacker Pass, to being a part of this fight, what we’re trying to do here.

Today’s the last day of February and we launched the camp on January 15th. So, of the almost seven weeks that have passed I’ve been out here for four or five of them. Same for Will. And we need more people who can spend some serious time out here, who can invest themselves in this campaign. We need all kinds of help at camp. We need people who are going to spread the word. We need people with experience in campaigns. We need folks who just help with camp chores: cooking and cleaning, all kinds of things. We need help with… repairs are an issue right now. We’ve got the hood up on two cars here. Here’s Will under the car. You want to say hi, Will?

Will: Hey y’all. We could really use you out here. Hope you’re well.

Max: Yeah, that’s the reality that we’re living with. It’s hard out here. We’ve had gear failures, we’ve had flat tires, we’ve had dead batteries, we’ve had keys locked in the car. We’ve got this transmission or this coolant problem – radiator problem Will’s dealing with.

This place is on the chopping block. This place is under dire threat of being destroyed. All the wildlife. Everybody who calls this place home. They can’t go home. They can’t take a break. They can’t rest. They can’t wait for the right time. And it’s so easy to come up with excuses why now is not the right time to come up to Thacker Pass or whatever campaign. It’s so easy to come up excuses: ‘I can’t do this. I’m not the right person. This isn’t for me, you know, my life isn’t set up in the right way.’ We need to figure these things out. Individually, collectively… we need to figure these things out because saving the planet, stopping the murder of the planet, stopping the climate crisis, stopping the mass extinction event, stopping the rich from systematically defrauding and stealing from the poor all around the world, stopping the crisis of capitalism, the crisis of the system that we live under from top to bottom, patriarchy, racism, all these different issues…it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to take people working hard. It’s going to take people making sacrifices. Dedicating their lives. You know, when you look back on your life when you’re an old person, you don’t want to say that you missed your opportunities. You don’t want to say that you missed your chances to make a difference in the world, to change things. You know, to really express your feelings in action.

So I just want to put a call out for people to come out here. Weather is supposed to get a little bit nicer this week. We’re looking forward to a couple days in the 50s but of course that could mean that it’s easier for the company to come and start mining, start what they’re trying to do. So we need folks out here. We need solidarity. We need support. We need more allies in this fight. We need folks willing to sign on to our letters of opposition to this project. So if you’re interested in coming out, give me a call. Give me a message. Get in touch and I’ll share details with you of what’s going on out here, what the latest is. But we need folks to step up. We need folks to step up for sure.

I’m just looking at this little track of a kangaroo rat right here. Came out of the sage this morning, dragging its tail along.

…Like I said, the wildlife out here doesn’t have a chance. The water out here doesn’t have a choice about whether to stay or whether to go. This is its home. So we put it on the banner: “Protect Thacker Pass .org” That’s the website. “Lithium lies.” We need your support. We need your support, so if you can come on out, get in touch. Let’s do this, okay? Thank you.