FAQ: What are the environmental impacts of renewable energy?

Ever heard of “green colonialism”? It’s what Indigenous leaders and environmental justice allies are calling governments’ push to skip meaningful engagement and consultation with communities on the way to a clean energy economy. The climate crisis is urgent and dangerous, but that’s no excuse for those with the most power in society – governments and private corporations – to risk communities’ health or well-being when mining for minerals like graphite, lithium and cobalt for batteries and other clean energy technologies.  

Green colonialism – if left unchecked – would continue the pattern of environmental and community degradation in Tribal nations, Black, Brown, rural and frontline communities. We cannot allow this legacy to repeat itself during the renewable energy transition. Otherwise, we risk causing the same environmental and social harms as fossil fuel CEOs and corporations.  

Public lands can play a role in providing the resources needed to support a green economy, but clean energy mineral development needs to be carried out in an environmentally, culturally and socially responsible manner that protects communities, wildlife, land, water and natural and cultural resources.  

Where mining must occur, we can ensure it proceeds as sustainably as possible in appropriate locations with robust community involvement in potential projects from start to finish.  

One important step in reducing the impact of mineral mining is updating the General Mining Act of 1872, a driving force behind centuries of legacy mining pollution that is leaking toxic heavy metals and acid mine drainage into streams and rivers all across the West. We also need to strengthen environmental safeguards and take steps to ensure companies are on the hook to clean up after themselves once a project is completed. These kinds of reforms will keep communities from being burdened with pollution for years to come.   

Finally, the most sustainable way to meet the demand for clean energy minerals is to reduce the amount of mining needed altogether. That’s why supporting a “circular economy” for minerals is critical: from recycling and reusing clean energy and battery materials, to reducing demand by increasing energy efficiency of buildings and vehicles to promoting public transit to reduce carbon emissions.