Episode 23: Max Wilbert from Protect Thacker Pass, NV

Today I’m sharing my conversation with Max Wilbert, one of the
activists occupying Thacker Pass, Nevada, up in the
northern-central part of the state, to protest a proposed lithium
mine there.


He and his fellow protesters have been camping on this land,
currently governed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in
winter conditions at about 5,100 feet elevation, so it’s cold and
snowy. But the beauty of the pass and their belief in the cause
sustains them, though their numbers are few. When you visit the
website, ProtectThackerPass.org, and I hope you do, you will find
some of the most beautiful writing and personal expression about
a place you could find anywhere.


Thacker Pass is habitat for Crosby’s buckwheat (a rare desert
wildflower only found in this area), King River pyrg (a
critically endangered snail), rabbitbrush, jackrabbits, bighorn
sheep, coyotes, golden eagles, greater sage-grouse, pronghorn
antelope, and old growth sagebrush. 


Max joined me the afternoon of February 4th from the side of the
mountain where, incredibly, there was cell service from a small
town miles away. But I’m glad there was, because the importance
of what he had to say can’t be overstated.


Many of us have been dreaming of transitioning away from fossil
fuels not only because their burning has a devastating effect on
the climate, but also because fossil fuel extraction practices
are wholly destructive to those parts of the world where they
take place, and therefore to the many life forms that call these
places home. The prospect of clean, green energy has been so
appealing that maybe we have been blinded to the high cost to the
earth. The realities of wind and solar, as hyped as they are now,
and as seemingly mainstream they are becoming, are not without
their damaging environmental effects.


But make no mistake - lithium mining is not unlike coal or gold
or other mineral mining in its destructive power - this is a
strip mine we’re talking about. It will involve


Lithium is essential for battery production for electric energy
storage, that means solar batteries, electric vehicle batteries,
and all the batteries that will store all the electricity
produced by variable energy sources such as solar and wind. The
electric car industry will be one of the largest consumers of
large batteries capable of propelling heavy vehicles long
distances. And we do love to drive.


The idea that we can just shift our consumption of energy from
fossil fuels to solar and wind without serious implications for
the health of our planet is just false. It’s like the story with
fracked or “natural” gas: there are less carbon emissions when
its burned, but the cost to our water, air, and land and all the
species, including human, that live where fracking occurs, pay
the price through polluted water and methane emissions that they
drink, eat and breathe, and there’s the sand that’s scraped from
the bottom of our rivers for fracking rigs, the billions of
gallons of water trucked in, and all the rest of it.


In short, haven’t we done enough damage? can we please drive
less, buy less, eat less, and consume less of everything? And for
goodness sake, turn off your spotlights at night. No one’s coming
for you, especially not bears! They have far more important
things to do.


But back to Thacker Pass. Thank you to Max and all the activists
out there and those supporting their efforts for bringing
attention to this important topic.


I hope you enjoy the show, and are inspired to learn more at
ProtectThackerPass.org.


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