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That mine could help address climate change by helping the United States replace fossil fuels and combustion engines with renewable energy and electric cars. But to Mr. Nosie, a former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, it’s the latest insult in a bitter history. The tribe considers the rolling hills and hidden canyons under which the copper lies — an area of Arizona called Oak Flat — to be a corridor to God inhabited by holy spirits. The tribe’s reservation is roughly 35 miles away.
The two mining giants behind the project, Rio Tinto and BHP, have plenty of experience with conflicts over the environment. But in this case, executives for the companies have argued that their project, known as Resolution, will benefit the environment by helping to increase the use of renewable energy and electric cars and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The companies have already spent more than $2 billion on exploratory work and to prepare for the project. They have the support of many local and state elected officials.
The battle over copper in southern Arizona highlights a growing dilemma for policymakers and investors eager to move from fossil fuels to clean energy. Making that switch will require new mines, sometimes in pristine and sacred lands, to extract a lot more copper, lithium and other metals. Extracting coal, oil and gas has significant environmental costs, too, but they often come from places, like Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming, with established mines and oil and gas fields and scant local opposition to those businesses.
At stake are the ambitious climate goals set by President Biden, who wants to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 52 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 and effectively bring them to zero by 2050. To meet those targets, the country will need many more wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles — and all of those will require a lot more copper. An electric car, for example, has three times as much copper in it as a comparable gasoline powered vehicle.
The Resolution mine project was initially made possible nine years ago when Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, slipped a federal land swap in an appropriations bill that could eventually open the Oak Flat area to more copper mining.
“Would anyone destroy Mount Sinai to drill for oil?” asked Mr. Nosie, [a former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe], who lives as a protest in two caves that will eventually be disturbed if the mine is built. He said he was ready to go to the Supreme Court to defend what he characterized as the Apache’s constitutional right to practice their religion.
A Copper Mine Could Advance Green Energy but Scar Sacred Land
The two mining giants behind the project, Rio Tinto and BHP, have plenty of experience with conflicts over the environment. But in this case, executives for the companies have argued that their project, known as Resolution, will benefit the environment by helping to increase the use of renewable energy and electric cars and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The companies have already spent more than $2 billion on exploratory work and to prepare for the project. They have the support of many local and state elected officials.
The battle over copper in southern Arizona highlights a growing dilemma for policymakers and investors eager to move from fossil fuels to clean energy. Making that switch will require new mines, sometimes in pristine and sacred lands, to extract a lot more copper, lithium and other metals. Extracting coal, oil and gas has significant environmental costs, too, but they often come from places, like Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming, with established mines and oil and gas fields and scant local opposition to those businesses.
At stake are the ambitious climate goals set by President Biden, who wants to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 52 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 and effectively bring them to zero by 2050. To meet those targets, the country will need many more wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles — and all of those will require a lot more copper. An electric car, for example, has three times as much copper in it as a comparable gasoline powered vehicle.
The Resolution mine project was initially made possible nine years ago when Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, slipped a federal land swap in an appropriations bill that could eventually open the Oak Flat area to more copper mining.
“Would anyone destroy Mount Sinai to drill for oil?” asked Mr. Nosie, [a former chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe], who lives as a protest in two caves that will eventually be disturbed if the mine is built. He said he was ready to go to the Supreme Court to defend what he characterized as the Apache’s constitutional right to practice their religion.
A Copper Mine Could Advance Green Energy but Scar Sacred Land
