Rare Earth Metals Essential to Maine’s EV Dreams

Maine’s recently defeated electric vehicle (EV) mandate tried to put the electric car before the battery. 

The citizen’s petition delivered to the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) called for Maine to adopt California’s Advanced Clean Cars II regulations. This would have required 51 percent of new vehicle sales in Maine to be EVs by 2028 and 82 percent in 2032. Electric vehicles won’t be rolling off the assembly line anywhere without batteries, and those don’t come cheaply. 

[RELATED: Maine BEP Rejects Controversial EV Mandate…]

Fortunately, Newry, Maine hosts one of the world’s richest deposits of lithium, one of the most essential minerals needed to build the most crucial and expensive part of an EV. The only trouble is, Maine also hosts some of the strictest mining laws in the nation, blocking developers from accessing this multi-billion dollar deposit. If Mainers wish to mandate EV sales to reach climate goals, we will need to bring costs down by mining the necessary minerals here at home.

Maine is reasonably protective of its pristine wilderness which generates $3.3 billion for the state economy. Current Maine law forbids open pit mines larger than three acres, and it’s easy to see why: The unregulated Callahan Mine in Brookville, which operated nearly one hundred years and subsequently polluted much of the surrounding area, has left Mainers wary of authorizing new in-state mines. 

But this environmental attentiveness is exactly what makes Maine the perfect place to establish domestic lithium mining operations. Maine’s robust protections for public lands and sensitive ecosystems mean that a lithium mine would be opened with special attention paid to environmental protection. 

Joe Martin, an Oxford County resident with over three decades of experience in mining, remarked on the fundamental differences between the Callahan Mine and the proposed lithium mine. “The Callahan mine was primarily sulfur deposits and folks started mining there in the 1800s. There was minimal oversight since we just didn’t know about the danger that sulfur would have to the environment and to the miners.” 

The lithium within the Plumbago North deposit in Newry is estimated to be valued at $1.5 billion and contains enough lithium to construct tens of thousands of electric vehicles. That would translate to a multi-billion-dollar economic impact for western Maine. In a state economy that has been throttled by paper mill closures that once supported 20,000 blue-collar jobs, a potential lithium mine could be a lifeline for working Mainers. 

The economic windfall from trucking the minerals out of state for processing would also benefit Maine’s trucking industry, while the dozens of small businesses that would support the mine’s workers would allow hundreds of Maine families to prosper. Even more critically, the mine would make Maine an essential part of the Biden Administration’s Made in America initiative to reshore critical supply chains for green technologies. 

Solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicle batteries, and energy storage technologies all require lithium to store and transmit energy. Currently, U.S. manufacturers producing these technologies are dependent on unregulated foreign mines. Even worse, U.S. manufacturers are forced to ship these minerals across the world to refining facilities, emitting far more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than a U.S. supply chain would. 

“If the U.S. isn’t mining, processing, and refining rare earth elements here, it’s hardly Made in America. The Biden administration’s commitment to net-zero energy policies means continued reliance on foreign nations with abysmal labor practices and environmental standards for minerals,” said Gabriella Hoffman, director of Independent Women’s Forum Center for Energy and Conservation. 

By contrast, the robust federal and state mining regulations enforced by the U.S. ensure that mining companies pay to reclaim land once operations have ceased, to the tune of more than $11 billion dollars. The United States’ environmental protections are second to none, and American EV manufacturers have an incentive to purchase refined minerals from right here in the U.S. to insulate their supply chains. Dick Campbell (R-Orrington), Ranking Member of the Maine House of Representatives Environment and Natural Resources Committee, noted that “Maine is privileged to have many mineral deposits that overall will contribute to employment and Maine’s economy.” 

Any attempt to mandate electric vehicles or other measures meant to reduce emissions won’t work unless Mainers can actually access EVs, solar panels, and wind turbines. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Natural Resources Council of Maine have agreed that a proposal to regulate the Plumbago North deposit could be a way to ensure strong environmental protections while allowing the mine to open. The Maine Legislature amended Maine’s Metallic Mineral Mining Act last session to allow for open-pit mining if certain conditions and site reclamation plans are met, which is a small step in the right direction.

As Martin pointed out, companies and towns that depend on the watershed located near this lithium deposit have not opposed the mine. “If this mine were a threat to Poland Springs operations, they would have lobbyists all over the state house,” he said.  “Rumford’s water system is dependent on the streams next to this lithium deposit; they haven’t opposed the project; this mine is a good deal for Maine.” 

If Mainers really want to tackle climate change by transitioning to electric cars, those cars will need to be built in the United States. Maine’s Newry Plumbago North mine could help to make that a reality.