Episode description

Electric vehicles are seen as one of humanity's best hopes at fighting climate change, and that means humanity will need to build a whole lot of lithium ion batteries.

Unsurprisingly, the price of lithium is skyrocketing and the Biden administration is eager to develop domestic sources of the ultra-light metal. One of its best hopes here is a proposal to build a $1 billion open-pit lithium mine in a remote area of northern Nevada called Thacker Pass.

But while producing more lithium may have broad environmental benefits, a new mining operation could cause acute environmental harms to the farmers, ranchers, and tribal communities in and around Thacker Pass. Bloomberg Law reporter Daniel Moore traveled there to find out what's happening on the ground and to speak to the people who could be most affected by this politically popular mine project, and he tells us about it on our environmental policy podcast, Parts Per Billion.

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