CBS highlights the 'inconvenient truth' behind Biden's push for electric vehicles
Residents of a small town being mined for nickel told CBS News they were worried about the impact of the drilling on their waterways, as the outlet pointed out there was a "dirty side" to clean energy.
Members of a small Minnesota town sounded the alarm about the damage to the environment they said would come from a "clean energy" project funded by the Biden administration.
In a report aired on Thursday's "CBS Mornings," CBS News environmental reporter Ben Tracy traveled to Tamarack, Minnesota, where residents told him they were concerned a nickel mine being developed on local farmlands would have a toxic impact on their water. Ironically, the mine was funded through a grant by the Biden administration to develop batteries for electric vehicles, as part of its "green energy" agenda.
"Seventy-five percent of battery manufacturing is done in China. To change that, the Biden administration is awarding $2.8 billion in grants to a dozen states all in an effort to boost battery production. All of those EV batteries require critical minerals like nickel," co-anchor Tony Dokoupil explained as he introduced the story.
"President Biden has put nickel on a list of minerals essential to national security and wants more of it mined domestically," Tracy noted. But some homeowners in Tamarack were "worried."
GREEN ENERGY PROJECTS FACE STARK ENVIRONMENTAL, LOCAL OPPOSITION NATIONWIDE
On Thursday, "CBS Mornings" reported on residents of a Minnesota town opposing a local nickel mine funded by the Biden administration. (CBS/Screenshot)
"A group of homeowners worried about sulfuric acid runoff from the mine leaking into pristine waterways have banded together to fight the project," he reported.
The corporation conducting the drilling project, Talon Metals Corp, received $114 million from last year's Infrastructure bill to develop a processing facility for the nickel mine.
"Talon hopes to open the Minnesota mine in 2026 when the only other U.S. nickel mine is set to close. It says it will create 300 jobs in the poorest county in the state. The company already has a deal to supply nickel to Tesla. Now it’s up to the state of Minnesota to approve the mine, and some people who live here have questions," Tracy said.
"Where is the scientific data that says this is safe?" one local woman asked Tracy. Another homeowner said, "Asking Talon or asking any mining company about how they're going to take care of the community and the environment is kind of like asking the fox how he's taking care of the chicken coop."
President Joe Biden speaks about his infrastructure agenda while visiting the under construction Fern Hollow Bridge, in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
CBS pressed Talon to answer residents' concerns about the mine's impact on the environment. A worker for the company said the deep underground mine posed "little risk to the environment" and cited Biden's push to make America less reliant on other countries for manufacturing electric vehicle components.
But Tracy noted there was an "inconvenient truth" to the drilling for electric vehicle batteries.
"The need for mining like this raises an inconvenient truth: there is a dirty side to clean energy," the reporter said.
The California Independent System Operator said residents can reduce power usage during a heatwave by not charging vehicles in the evening. California is poised to required 100% of new cars, trucks and SUVs sold in the state to be powered by electricity or hydrogen by 2035. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) (Associated Press)
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The Talon worker seemed to agree, noting that solar, wind power, and batteries were "all dependent on metallic minerals" so the real conversation should be about "how" and "where" to do these clean energy projects.
On top of concerns about the environment, conservatives have argued the Biden Administration's push for electric vehicles is tone-deaf amidst historically high inflation.