9th Circuit denies bid by environmentalists and tribes to block Nevada lithium mine

By SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the latest bid by conservationists and tribal leaders to block construction of a huge lithium mine already in the works along the Nevada-Oregon line. A three-panel judge of the San Francisco-based appellate court rejected a half-dozen arguments the opponents had put forth in their appeal seeking to overturn federal land managers’ approval of the project. That included claims it violates multiple environmental laws and would destroy lands tribal members consider sacred because they say dozens of their ancestors were massacred there in 1865. The conflict has pitted environmentalists and Native Americans against President Joe Biden’s plans to combat climate change.