Climate Action and Renewable Energy in the West Stories
Can Minerals to Support Energy Demand Be Developed Sustainably?
Demand is growing for materials that go into everything from batteries to solar panels to wind turbines, and needed minerals exist in Western lands.
Some cars zooming down the road have no need for a fuel tank. Instead, they store up the energy they need to get from point A to B in batteries. Electric vehicles like these do away with the problem of dirty tailpipe emissions and lessen reliance on fossil fuels, the major contributor to climate change. Renewable energy can power our homes and businesses, too.
By supplying our homes and communities with affordable electricity, renewable energy has so much to offer. Reducing emissions through support for renewable energy is called out in The Nature Conservancy’s 2030 Goals. Some of the building blocks in this transition, like critical minerals for batteries and wind and solar infrastructure, can be expected to come from lands in the Western U.S.
“We really recognize the importance, especially in the West, of conserving all the great landscapes that people enjoy recreating in and visiting and that provide such important habitat for wildlife and all the cultural values that are embodied in that landscape,” says Peter Gower, Climate Action and Renewable Energy program director at TNC.
“At the same time, we have super ambitious climate goals. For example, our goal in the West is to avoid about 90 million metric tons of carbon emissions. That’s about the emissions from 20 million cars a year.”
Deploying energy infrastructure must bring in ways to protect nature and benefit communities.
“We need this balance,” Gower says. “We know this transition needs to happen, but let’s do it in a way that really allows us, at the same time, to have these great places that we love in the West. That’s why we’re trying to get involved in a way that makes sense, to get that renewable energy on the grid as soon as possible. We call it accelerating that renewable energy transition but really doing it in a way that avoids those conflicts with nature, people and cultural values.”
We need this balance. We know this transition is happening, but let’s do it in a way that really allows us, at the same time, to have these great places that we love in the West.
Mapping the West
TNC expertise is powering an ongoing analysis of 59 critical minerals across six Western states to offer an early look at where development may have less environmental conflict. The resulting maps provide a concise, landscape‑scale view of areas where environmental conflict could be minimized if critical‑mineral mining expands. Minerals like lithium, copper and cobalt, and many more, occur in the Western U.S.
“To me, the exciting part of this was that there are actually a lot of lower-conflict lands. Regionwide, we identified more than 280,000 square miles of lower-conflict lands, which, to put that into context, is larger than the state of California,” says Michael Clifford, the TNC scientist leading the analysis.
The process of synthesizing large data sources into a user-friendly resource designed for decision-makers works like this: “We pull in 58 data sets, and we stack all of those 58 data sets on top of each other,” Clifford says.
This means the map includes everything from streams and wetlands to endangered species habitat and key migration corridors. It includes the boundaries of urban areas, Tribal lands, national parks, existing and proposed mines, and the areas where more than 50 different economically valuable minerals are documented, among other features. When the results are compiled into a single map, it creates a clear starting point for a thorough planning effort with everyone at the table.
Communities, conservation and climate
Building Community Consensus
The Nature Conservancy’s partnership with the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) advances an energy transition rooted in Tribal sovereignty and rights. Learn how Indigenous leaders across the West are providing consultation at concept and revitalizing community connections.
Mines can take decades to explore, permit and build. By understanding the locations of high- and low-environmental-conflict areas before exploration and permitting, unnecessary impacts can be avoided, and a project can be approved more quickly. Ultimately, mineral extraction on lower-conflict lands is expected to reduce permitting hurdles and have fewer negative effects on lands and waters.
This is important. Some of North America’s largest remaining intact ecosystems are in the Western U.S. and Canada. These areas include the ancestral territories of federally-recognized Tribes, and government agencies have acknowledged Tribes integral role integral role in decision-making in these lands. Tribal and rural communities often experience a disproportionate burden of energy development because they are closest to new projects but receive few benefits from them.
The critical minerals study supports all three tenets of TNC’s 3C approach to an energy buildout: Meet emissions reductions goals by prioritizing climate impact, community benefit and preserving intact landscapes for conservation.
“A 3C approach to meeting our energy demand,” Gower says, “is about reducing the emissions that cause climate change while ensuring people and nature continue to thrive.”
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