The basic fact is that mining sucks and cars (or for that matter, most other technical products) are not environmentally friendly. However, the scale of these issues varies for different products. And to the point of scale:
I’ll admit, the specifics and the source on this infographic are “trust me bro” because I forgot where I screenshotted it from. The takeaway is this, though: The necessary level of materials mining for electrified products and green energy does not compare to the level of fossil fuels drilling needed otherwise. In addition, battery materials can be recycled pretty well, so you only need to mine them once. Fossil fuels can not be recycled.
In any case, it’s a good idea to question where all of the things you own and consume come from. It’s a good thing to fight for supply-chain laws. However, detractors of green energies systematically exaggerate environmental impacts precisely because the technologies they propose are massively dirtier.
As to lithium in particular: Lithium from South America indeed has large environmental ramifications. However, most lithium is in fact mined in Australia in a completely different process.
The basic fact is that mining sucks and cars (or for that matter, most other technical products) are not environmentally friendly. However, the scale of these issues varies for different products. And to the point of scale:
I’ll admit, the specifics and the source on this infographic are “trust me bro” because I forgot where I screenshotted it from. The takeaway is this, though: The necessary level of materials mining for electrified products and green energy does not compare to the level of fossil fuels drilling needed otherwise. In addition, battery materials can be recycled pretty well, so you only need to mine them once. Fossil fuels can not be recycled.
In any case, it’s a good idea to question where all of the things you own and consume come from. It’s a good thing to fight for supply-chain laws. However, detractors of green energies systematically exaggerate environmental impacts precisely because the technologies they propose are massively dirtier.
As to lithium in particular: Lithium from South America indeed has large environmental ramifications. However, most lithium is in fact mined in Australia in a completely different process.