Environmental advocacy groups continue to oppose mining efforts within the US, despite pushing for a green future through electric vehicles that require large amounts of copper and other mined resources.
The advocacy groups, the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Earthjustice and Center for Biological Diversity have pushed to decarbonize the grid and the auto market in the coming years, but continue to advocate against mining projects that would support the green transition. The advocacy groups on Tuesday celebrated the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Final Determination that restricted the possible mining of 1.4 billion tons of copper, gold, molybdenum, silver and rhenium, which could have provided “tens of millions” in tax dollars for the state of Alaska and helped source crucial EV materials.