A federal appeals court has cleared the way for construction in Nevada of the largest lithium mine in the U.S. while it considers claims by conservationists and tribes that the government illegally approved it in a rush to produce raw materials for electric vehicle batteries.
On Wednesday, the San Francisco-based court scheduled expedited filing deadlines through April on the merits of the appeal but its four-page ruling didn’t explain its rejection of the injunction. “By the time our general appeal to the Ninth Circuit is heard, irreversible damage to the environmentally and culturally sensitive area known as Thacker Pass will have occurred unnecessarily,” John Hadder, director of the Great Basin Resource Watch, said after Wednesday’s ruling.
Neighbouring California – the nation’s largest car market – plans to end the sale of new gas cars and trucks in a little over a decade, which will further drive up demand for electric vehicle batteries.