Car batteries are the goal. Lithium is the quickest way to make them. Does a global good require local sacrifice in the Southwest?
[T]he push for a future free from fossil fuels is igniting a new rush to extraction: getting resources out of the ground for the batteries needed to decarbonize transportation. … The conundrum – to mine or not to mine – has roiled several rural western communities, from the outskirts of California’s Death Valley to northern Nevada and western Arizona. The arguments vary by location, but belong to a larger debate over how to balance the need to slow global warming with the need to protect endangered species, preserve groundwater and support tribal rights while maintaining heritage sites.