The Lithium Frenzy is an Ecological Catastrophe for Oregon’s High Desert
A sudden crazed lithium boom poses a grave threat to critical Sage-grouse habitats in the remote Nevada-Oregon borderlands of the McDermitt caldera. The proposed Thacker Pass lithium mine in the southern caldera by the Montana Mountains has gained international notoriety. Winnemucca BLM fast-tracked an EIS for an immense open pit lithium mine sought by Lithium Americas at Peehee Mu’huh Thacker Pass at the end of the Trump administration. BLM glossed over the mine’s death blow to wildlife (Sage-grouse, Golden Eagle, Pronghorn, Long Billed Curlew, songbirds) and to the region’s tiny springs and dwindling groundwater, and downplayed mine pollution. Meaningful Tribal consultation was forsaken for this mine that would desecrate a place of great cultural significance More
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