Jason Bean/The Reno Gazette-Journal via AP)
In this July 14, 2021, file photo the Montana Mountains loom over Thacker Pass in northern Nevada.
Friday, March 4, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Opposition groups of a proposed lithium mine in Northern Nevada have reaffirmed their resolve after recent news reports claimed opposition had stalled after a group’s anti-trans beliefs came to light.
Several organizations and groups — from environmentalists to Native Americans to ranchers — have been fighting Lithium Americas Corp.’s proposed mine at Thacker Pass in Humboldt County, about 25 miles from the Nevada-Oregon border.
Articles published in February by Politico and LBTQ Nation, an online news magazine reporting on issues relevant to the LBTQ community, highlighted how the anti-trans beliefs of the environmental group Deep Green Resistance have stalled the fight against the proposed mining operations, which would annually extract 60,000 tons of lithium , a key component in the batteries that power electric vehicles.
Deep Green Resistance is one of many groups that has joined the fight against the mine and calls itself a “radical environmental movement dedicated to stopping the murder of the planet.” It also identifies as a “radical feminist organization” that opposes opening women-only spaces, like bathrooms, to transgender women.
In a 2019 essay published on the Feminist Current, the founders of Deep Green Resistance said that “men who call themselves ‘transgender’ are still men,” that “mammals can’t change sex,” and that “females have a right to women-only spaces.”
Max Wilbert, an activist for Deep Green Resistance and an organizer with Protect Thacker Pass, called the recent news stories nothing more than a “political smear campaign” aimed to weaken the mine’s opposition efforts. Wilbert said he and his group remained focused on their opposition to the mine.
“From the beginning of this campaign, myself and the other organizers have been clear that we’re willing to work with anyone who respects us and we also respect them,” Wilbert said in an interview. “I really think this is a case of a political smear campaign that has very little to do with the issues at hand and what’s happened.”
Wilbert said the opposition movement had not stalled; there are now three separate lawsuits ongoing against the mine. Most recently, the Winnemucca Indian Colony joined litigation efforts with other Native American tribes opposing the mine, claiming the proposed site is sacred to their culture and history.
“The opposition has been quite strong and determined, and I think it’s growing bigger as demonstrated by the third tribe getting involved in the lawsuit,” Wilbert said. “The opposition, I think, is stronger than it’s ever been.”
In a statement in response to the Politico and LBTQ Nation articles, Protect Thacker Pass, an organization run by the same people as Deep Green Resistance, wrote that the group had “zero tolerance for abuse against people who identify as transgender.”
“If a person who identifies as transgender was abused at Thacker Pass, the abuser would be asked to leave,” the statement reads. “Similarly, Wilbert and (Will) Falk (one of the organizers) have been willing to work with anyone who will work to stop the Thacker Pass mine. This includes people who identify as transgender.”
Since Deep Green Resistance’s anti-trans beliefs came to light, however, other opposition groups have distanced themselves and made clear they are separate entities.
Kelly Fuller, the energy and mining campaign director for Western Watershed Project, which is one of four environmental groups part of the litigation against the mine, said the organization did not work with Deep Green Resistance.
“We find their take on transgender people completely abhorrent,” Fuller said, adding that Western Watersheds Project “firmly supports” the rights of transgender people and “two spirit" people.
Katie Fite, director of public lands for Wildlands Defense, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, said her group did not work with Deep Green Resistance, which she called a “controversial” group.
“I think the very interesting thing about this is that there’s so many different interests that have converged to speak out for this protected place,” Fite said.
Her group along with Western Watershed Project, Great Basin Resource Watch and Basin and Range Watch are the four litigants on the environmental side of the project. Three Native American tribes have filed a lawsuit in opposition to the mine for cultural reasons, claiming it is the site where their ancestors were massacred. Tribes refer to it as “Peehee mu’huh,” meaning “rotten moon,” in commemoration of that massacre, which took place in an area of Thacker Pass that is shaped like a moon.
People of Red Mountain, a major opposition group that cut ties with Deep Green Resistance and Protect Thacker Pass, did not respond to the Sun’s multiple phone calls and emails requesting a comment.
Nevada rancher Edward Bartell also filed a separate lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management, which approved the Record of Decision for the mine, alleging that the mine would harm water resources in the area.
“There’s a lot of opposition to this,” Fite said, “and the more people learn about it the more alarmed they become.”
Wildlands Defense is focused on the wildlife concerns and the sage grass habitat, which is still recovering from a 2012 wildfire, Fite said.
John Hadder, director of Great Basin Resource Watch, said his group did not work directly with Deep Green Resistance, as it had not been a part of the legal case.
“Despite what happened with Deep Green Resistance, we’re all still standing where we were before,” Hadder said. “It didn’t change our position.”
“We’re trying to work with other groups on the issues at hand with the site,” Hadder said, such as water pollution and water usage issues. “If we can all work together, that’s great.”
