The U.S. will need far more lithium to achieve its clean energy goals — and the industry that mines, extracts and processes the chemical element is poised to grow. But it also faces a host of challenges from environmentalists, Indigenous groups and government regulators.
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This has the potential to turn into a real bitch fight - the environmentalists wanted electric cars to save the earth, yet they have to destroy the environment to get materials for the batteries.
They'll be shocked at the amount of water needed to mine and process lithium. Way shocked.
ReplyDeleteExpand on your comment, if you would. Please.
DeleteThat's where you are making a mistake that is very common amongst people who use logic and reason. Those on the left are not motivated by logic and reason, but are instead ruled by emotion and magical thinking. There is no contradiction in the mind of a leftist who wants electric cars, but doesn't want Gaia to be raped of her natural resources by something as ugly as mining.
ReplyDeleteLogic and reason are tools of the racist, capitalist patriarchy that are used to enslave women, homosexuals, and BIPOC.
Right on, Divemeic. The asshole progs are fantasy addicts, and the globalist elites are using them to destroy the social establishment of the United States. Unfortunately, the Critical thinking logical minded in this country are outnumbered by 10,000 to one. All you have to do is watch TV programs, professional sports and most importantly look at social media like the Tik Tok participants.
Deletehttps://www.treehugger.com/vast-reserves-lithium-found-wyoming-could-meet-all-us-demand-4852890
ReplyDeleteIt gets better. Russia is a top-3 producer of nickel and of cobalt, other critical elements needed for electric-car batteries. Though The Congo is by far the leading cobalt producer. Where (wait for it) 40,000 children, as young as 6 years of age, dig for cobalt by hand. While this is dangerous and bad for their health, a cynical person might say that it's a plus because every Congolese child who sickens and dies from producing cobalt (so Western progs can have electric cars) is one fewer potential immigrant to the West.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the environmental degradation and production of CO2 and NO2 associated with cobalt production are off the charts.
There's a big fight on near Grass Valley, California regarding reopening the Idaho-Maryland mine. It was a huge producer for well over a half a century and was only closed because of the government controlled low price of gold. This is the second attempt at reopening the mine. The latest attempt shows core samples that indicate some of the richest areas of high grade are still underground.
ReplyDeleteThe Leftist locals are dead set against it, citing quality of life concerns, among the usual other 'The Sky is Falling' tripe. And just like the first attempt 15 years ago, they'll probably beat it back again, with the help of the worthless local paper.
Still, I can't help but think of the irony of a bunch of Prius driving, wannabe Tesla owners not wanting to mine in a county in which gold mining is a huge part of it's history, a history in which the area did not experience any loss of standard of living during the Great Depression, thanks to gold mining.
I grew up in Grass Valley and had a ringside seat to the last serious attempt at opening the mine. Your characterization is right on target. Having recently spent some time there with family, I can tell you the myopic leftist lock on decision making is stronger than ever. I'd give reopening less than a 1% chance.
DeleteThe crowd that's screaming "NO MINE" is the same crowd that ran all the sawmills out of the county 30 years ago. They're all city people who moved here to enjoy the natural beauty of the area.
DeleteBut they never stopped to realize that the place they moved to was beautiful despite being mined and logged for 100+ years. Now it's one big fire trap.
There are now three groups in AZ and two in UT looking to set up operations to mine lithium. All are in various stages of the pre-production stage. The furthest along has all permitting in place for exploration. That one recently said they are as much as ten years from extracting ore. As can be imagined, the locals have a growing concern about contamination of ground water. So, more meetings for more public comment.
ReplyDeleteI'd be very surprised if the commie .gov in Maine will ever allow a Lithium mine in the state, despite the jobs and revenue that will be generated. They'd rather Maine residents stay drunk and dependent on welfare for their beer money, while the U.S. .gov ships hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens to their major cities.
ReplyDeleteNemo
They won't. Heck, they worked hard to kill a transmission line which would have brought cheap green and plentiful hydroelectric power from Quebec into New England. These are the same folks that complain about their high electric utility bills. The same thing happened in New Hampshire.
DeleteOne thing you do have to remember is that commies have no problem with creating environmental devastation to meet the needs of The State. They would have no problem if western Maine turned into an ecological wasteland resembling parts of West Virginia during the bad old strip-mining days, i.e. like the surface of the moon. The lakes, rivers and streams will be poisoned and Maine residents will start suffering from all kinds of maladies. But as long as The State is served they won't care.
Nothing better than libtards in an endless "does not compute" loop.
ReplyDeleteIf only they had been occupying and controlling a country with MASSIVE amounts of lithium for the last 20 years and didn't abandon it recently.
ReplyDeleteAnyway fuck electric cars which will need to be replaced every 5-8 years (or less) and fuck the myth that oil isn't a renewable resource.
"Produce"? You mean we can't just print it, or click it into existence? Can't we click $$$ into existence and buy it? WTF?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this sounds familiar to them, it should, considering the Donks were running the show when it got uttered: "We had to destroy the village in order to save it."
ReplyDeleteClassic of people with there head up their asses
ReplyDeleteAh the irony/hypocrisy/scumbaggery..
ReplyDeleteLithium - world's largest deposits are where? Yep - Afghanistan. Taliban territory now controlled by the Chinese thanks to poopypants Biden.
Want EV's? Thank the Taliban & China 😅
Or Aluminium for your EV.
Raw alumina from Australia which used to go to...you guessed it...Russia.
Want an EV? Thank Russia 😅
Maybe Zelensky has the answer, after all he makes $100M A MONTH, so he should.
Here's a quick math lesson on the fantasy of replacing ICE vehicles with EVs anytime in the near future:
ReplyDeleteTotal annual worldwide lithium production = 100,000 Metric Tons
Average annual US vehicle sales = 16 million.
Lithium required for a new mid-range Tesla = 63 Kg.
So, to get rid of ICE cars, we need enough lithium to produce 16 million Evs...
16,000,000 X 63 Kg X (1 MT/1000KG) = 1,008,000 MT of lithium. That's just over 10X the amount produced each year.
And the final kicker is that's what is needed to replace ICE cars here in the US. That would mean no lithium for anyplace else in the world and no lithium to power all the portable electronics that we apparently can't live without.
Yeah, I think ICE vehicles are going to be around for awhile...
My prediction? They will ban fossil fuel vehicles and mandate electric. Trucks and farm vehicles will become useless and food will go thru the roof. Then, someone will discover the *gasp* damage being done to the environment mining all of that crap. Then only a few vehicles will be produced each year and they will be available only to the governing elites. The weak and worthless trans-population will roll over and do as they are told.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I am a pessimist engaging in pipe dreams.