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Lithium Mining Against Wild Flowers

Environmentalist Katie McShane compares our respect for life with words freedom. Everyone believes it, but no one really knows what it means. “Even if you agree that it has a value, it does not tell you what to do if the price does not meet my needs,” he says.

Comparing the value of materials, measuring price and its advantages against each other, which makes environmentalists very busy. Sometimes all of these competing elements are relevant to the natural world; sometimes a person has a statement to fulfill a person’s life. Or a complete planet. If a mine in Rhyolite Ridge wanted gold or copper, it would probably be easier to get rid of it. Everyone benefits from the resources, but it would be easy to say that you don’t want “gold” or that the dollar price isn’t worth it. With lithium, resistance is difficult. Donnelly and Fraga both agree that the country – the rest of the world – should restrain itself from the dead. Lithium and sunlight are located in the western desert, so the transition to green energy brings a new dimension to its industry. Mines and solar power plants will compete with rare buckwheat turtles and deserts. But without mines and electricity, the desert will still suffer. Because of their harsh conditions and seemingly barren landscapes, deserts, and rugged terrain, local life is easily threatened by extreme heat and drought. What we want is to make a moral agreement: What is the value of a mine compared to its value?

All mines have a black side, whether their production is “green.” They can damage the environment or contaminate water or emit greenhouse gases. In the past, the mining industry has largely ignored these issues, doing little to comply with the rules. But lithium workers also face the challenge of doing the right thing, explains Alex Grant, a skilled mining consultant. Electric car buyers should take care, for example, that 25% of their lifetime cars come from a battery category. As a result, manufacturers, in an effort to boost their reputation over the years, have relied heavily on lithium suppliers to burn less coal and look for a certificate that guarantees that their mines do not pollute water and habitat.

It is impossible for any tree to disappear. As Grant sees it, there is no other way to dig for lithium. The condition of fuel-burning vehicles is not an option. What are the prospects for opponents of lithium mining? Back to the horse and buggy? “We don’t need any work,” he says. “Some of them may have problems that we shouldn’t admit. But we need a small part of them, that’s for sure.”

Each project seems to have its own set of values ​​that one might consider unacceptable, which makes deciding which ones should be allowed to go but the most difficult. In the far north of Nevada, Thacker Pass, another major lithium project on the verge of excavation, is taking place in conflict with civil society groups as well as water rights activists and water pollution. The situation is similar in Chile and Bolivia. Some seemingly interesting ecosystems, such as brine near the Salton Sea in California, have been reported for years, but the expertise and funding of the project is unknown. We can look out to sea, perhaps; Deep-sea mines can supply lithium to a degree that would make any of the world’s mines seem worthless. But the natural cost of this method is inexplicable, and it is much higher.

As such, the future of the humble flower seems to be very small while lithium may be in the near future, as well as a few small problems. The interests of miners, pastoralists, and manufacturers have long argued that the process of listing endangered species should be economically destructive, such as the loss of a mine’s value or the loss of biodiversity, where natural forces seem to choose them.


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