A northern Nevada mine that is the largest-known source of lithium in the United States for electric car batteries is facing resistance from a radical environmental group and some of its Native American supporters.
The mine site is called Thacker Pass and located on public land of the Bureau of Land Management in rural Nevada between two mountain ranges about 25 miles south of the border with Oregon.
The fight reflects other political battles between liberals and far-left factions within the Democratic Party, with larger ramifications for the party’s agenda. Lithium is the key ingredient in powering electric vehicles, a centerpiece of the Biden administration’s efforts to promote renewable energy in place of fossil fuels and to develop domestic sources of the critical mineral.