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On Thursday, a coalition including Western Shoshone and conservation organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Land Management's approval last week of the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron mine in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The lawsuit alleges that the environmental review process was rushed and that the approval of the mine fails to protect the endangered Tiehm's buckwheat, which grows only in a 10-acre area within the mine project area. The groups also raise concerns that the mine will damage cultural sites of importance to Western Shoshone people, and that rare desert springs and the plants and animals that depend on them will be harmed.
"The end use of minerals, whether for EVs or solar panels, does not justify this disregard of Indigenous cultural areas and keystone environmental laws," said John Hadder, executive director of Great Basin Resource Watch, one of the plaintiffs. "Approval of this mine risks rolling back standards of protection and advancing an era of relaxed mine permitting that we and future generations will seriously regret."
What Biden can do for America’s forests before he leaves office
On the latest episode of the Center for Western Priorities podcast, The Landscape, Kate and Aaron are joined by Dr. Dominick DellaSala, Chief Scientist at Wild Heritage, a project of the Earth Island Institute. Dr. DellaSala recently wrote an op-ed for the Seattle Times in which he says the Forest Service is still planning to allow logging in mature and old growth forests. They talk about why that’s the case, how the Old Growth Amendment process plays into this, and what the Biden administration can do about it, then discuss recent headlines about wildlife connectivity in forests and carbon sink failure.
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Communities in the Uinta Basin and Gulf Coast will suffer the most from this oil railroad, while oil companies enrich themselves at the expense of the environment and people’s health.”
