Atop a long-dormant volcano in northern Nevada, workers are preparing to start blasting and digging out a giant pit that will serve as the first new large-scale lithium mine in the U.S. in more than a decade — a new domestic supply of an essential ingredient in electric car batteries and renewable energy. The mine, on federal lands, could help address the near total reliance on foreign sources of lithium.
But the project, known as Lithium Americas, has drawn protests from a Native American tribe, ranchers and environmental groups because it is expected to use billions of gallons of precious ground water, potentially contaminating some of it for 300 years, while leaving behind a giant mound of waste
The fight over the Nevada mine is emblematic of a fundamental tension surfacing around the world: Electric cars and renewable energy may not be as green as they appear, writes The New York Times (May 7, 2021). Production of raw materials like lithium, cobalt and nickel that are essential to these technologies are often ruinous to land, water, wildlife and people. In addition to Nevada, businesses have proposed lithium production sites in California, Oregon, Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina.
Traditional mining is one of the dirtiest businesses out there. Its environmental toll has often been overlooked in part because there is a race underway among the U.S., China, Europe and other major powers. Echoing past contests and wars over gold and oil, governments are fighting for supremacy over minerals that could help countries achieve economic and technological dominance for decades to come.
“Our new clean-energy demands could be creating greater harm, even though its intention is to do good,” says the head of a group that vets mines for carmakers.
Classroom discussion questions:
- Why is this an OM issue?
- What is China’s strategy regarding “rare earths” such as lithium?