Cortez Masto highlighted the billions of dollars she’s helped secure from the Inflation Reduction Act for electric vehicles, solar energy, and processing minerals through tax credits.
On Monday, she toured a Northern Nevada-based company that benefited from such incentives. Aqua Metals at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center recycles lithium-ion batteries. But lithium mining isn’t without controversy. Construction has begun for a mine at Thacker Pass, which received sharp opposition from environmentalists and tribal communities. Cortez Masto said it’s possible to balance the competing factors.
“I think part of what we need to do and ensure that we’re doing is engaging in that conversation and looking at how we do the responsible mining; there is a way to do it, as long as everybody’s open to it and working together,” Cortez Masto said. “Are you going to satisfy everyone? Probably not. But at the end of the day, it starts with that conversation and bringing everybody to the table.”
Cortez Masto says her other legislative priorities include lowering costs for families, affordable housing, and immigration reform.
