Page 26 - Adelante Magazine June 2022

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E Earth TALK ®
From the Editors of E - The Environmental Magazine

An expanding lithium mine in Arizona is threatening the
Hualapai tribe’s cultural and historic sites.
Credit: Richard Martin, FlickrCC
Dear EarthTalk: Lithium is called “white gold” for good reason: historic sites. While Hualapai leaders have been
WHY IS LITHIUM MINING SO BAD the metal’s value has been growing exponen- fighting to protect their land, Supreme Court
FOR THE ENVIRONMENT? tially over the last several years, in large part precedent dating to the 1820s has left them with
-- Jane B.,Atlanta, GA because it is an essential component of lithium- little legal leverage to wield against the massive
ion batteries, themselves indispensable in power of the mining industry and federal
several key sustainable technologies where government. And for politicians who have
energy storage is of utmost importance. As pledged to work with native peoples to confront
electric cars, wind and solar power have grown climate change, mining lithium and other
into major players in the energy industry, lithium precious metals is bringing priorities into conflict:
has become key to engineering a future free of How do you ensure the availability of materials
fossil fuels. essential to the future of renewables while
protecting tribal rights?
But acquiring lithium comes at an enormous
cost. As with most metals, its mining is The U.S. currently produces just one percent of
destructive. It often works like this: Briny water, the global lithium supply, according to The Wall
containing lithium as well as salts and other Street Journal. But as the Biden administration
metals, is pumped to the surface from under- moves to boost production of electric vehicles
ground aquifers and mixed with freshwater. The and challenge China’s market domination,
concoction then sits in pools to allow the water mining of the metal is expected to increase
to evaporate, leaving the rest of its contents dramatically in coming years. Over time, experts
behind as brightly-colored toxic sludge. say, that will reduce fossil fuel emissions by
Refineries use heat and chemical reactions to making electric cars more affordable, and
extract the lithium from that, refining it into therefore more popular. Still, environmental
powder which is then packaged and shipped to leaders disagree as to whether the benefits of
buyers around the world. The remaining waste- those cuts would outweigh the harm done to the
water is pumped to pools, where it can sit indef- people who rely on the mine-scarred land.
initely. Any accident that releases mine contents
into surrounding communities or the ground- Some new research suggests a slightly more
water supply could have devastating long-term positive future scenario. A 2020 University of
impacts. Córdoba study in Spain found that the batteries
could be recycled and reused, and could even
How much environmental degradation can be work effectively without cobalt, another metal
tolerated locally in the name of conservation that requires destructive mining practices. For
globally has led to debates in places as far-flung now, though, lithium mining is poised to grow
as Chile, Serbia and Arizona. Indigenous rapidly to meet soaring demand. As environ-
communities often bear the brunt of the mentally conscious consumers buy electric cars
damage, and political leaders have typically in ever-greater numbers, it’s important to be
given little weight to their concerns. In Arizona, aware of the dirty process that powers those
EarthTalk® is produced by Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss for the 501(c)3
nonprofit EarthTalk. See more at https://emagazine.com. To donate, visit for example, an expanding lithium mine is clean air vehicles.
https//earthtalk.org. Send questions to: question@earthtalk.org. threatening the Hualapai tribe’s cultural and

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