This is a LITHIUM open-pit mine. Lithium is what is in the batteries of your new EV. Is THIS the clean and environmentally friendly energy you've been screaming and crying about for 10 years?
Three salient points for you wannabe EV owners, especially if you really are concerned about the environment and don’t just believe and parrot what MSNBC and CNN report.
(1) You have to pay for the electricity that runs your vehicles, it’s not included with the Charging Stations that the taxpayers pay for. It can get very expensive, just look at your latest electric bill w/o an EV to charge each day.
(2) A minimum of 95% of the electricity that you’ll charge your EV with comes from fossil fuels, i.e oil, natural gas, coal, and/or nuclear power plants. That’s an indisputable fact. So you are paying thousands more for an EV why? Oh that’s right, so you reduce your ‘carbon footprint’ by not using fossil fuels any longer. Okay… That makes sense, except for the fact that you traded putting gas IN your vehicle to using gas to CHARGE your vehicle.
(3) The batteries (that have a relatively short life span and are extremely expensive, in the $1000’s of dollars) that run your vehicle are made using lithium, a dangerous, toxic, and hard to extract ore. The ore is mined from open-pit mines which destroy the land, water, and ecosystem for decades if not forever. And as it is a rare ore, it is very expensive. It’s expensive to mine, expensive to extract, expensive to process, and is dangerous and toxic every step of the way.
So keep telling us how your EVs are cleaner than my 4-cylinder small SUV that runs on regular gasoline. Explain to us, please? Also, there are basically 10 lithium mines in operation worldwide, and they cannot keep up with current demand.
Imagine another 10 million people purchasing EV’s, worldwide, let alone that many in America. It would require many more lithium open-pit mines, dozens or hundreds more, and that is IF they can locate proven reserves of lithium ore. Lithium is a common ore. It’s rare and costly to extract in time, manpower, and on the environment.
The world’s 10 largest lithium mines, ranked by size of proven reserves:
1. Sonora, Mexico
2. Nevada, USA
3, 4, 5, 6, 8. Western Australia
7. Quebec, Canada
9. Bougouni Region, Mali
10. Harare, Zimbabwe
BTW, 2 points for you millenial EV wannabe owners. (1) You have to pay for the electricity that runs your vehicles, it’s not included with the Charging Stations that the taxpayers pay for. (2) A minimum of 95% of the electricity you charge your EV with comes from fossil fuels, natural gas, coal, and/or nuclear power plants.
Have a Nice Day!
