{"id":37557,"date":"2024-09-26T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=37557"},"modified":"2024-10-13T18:41:14","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T18:41:14","slug":"big-lithium-plans-for-imperial-valley-one-of-californias-poorest-regions-raise-a-bigger-question-who-should-benefit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/big-lithium-plans-for-imperial-valley-one-of-californias-poorest-regions-raise-a-bigger-question-who-should-benefit\/","title":{"rendered":"Big lithium plans for Imperial Valley, one of California\u2019s poorest regions, raise a bigger question: Who should benefit?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Manuel Pastor<\/a>, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences<\/a><\/em> and Chris Benner<\/a>, University of California, Santa Cruz<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imperial County consistently ranks among the most economically distressed<\/a> places in California. Its Salton Sea, the state\u2019s biggest and most toxic lake<\/a>, is an environmental disaster. And the region\u2019s politics have been dominated by a conservative white elite<\/a>, despite its supermajority Latino population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The county also happens to be sitting on enough lithium to produce nearly 400 million batteries<\/a>, sufficient to completely revamp the American auto fleet to electric propulsion. Even better, that lithium could be extracted in a way consistent with broader goals to reduce pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The traditional ways to extract lithium<\/a> involve either hard rock mining, which generates lots of waste, or large evaporation ponds, which waste a lot of water. In Imperial Valley, companies are pioneering a third method. They are extracting the mineral from the underground briny water brought up during geothermal energy production and then injecting that briny water back into the ground in a closed loop. It promises to yield the cleanest, greenest lithium on the planet<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hope of a clean energy future has excited investors and public officials so much that the area is being rechristened as \u201cLithium Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a region desperate for jobs and income, the prospect of a \u201cwhite gold rush\u201d is appealing. Public officials have been working to roll out the red carpet for big investors, including trying to create a clear plan<\/a> for infrastructure and a quicker permitting process. To get community groups\u2019 support, they are playing up the potential for jobs, including company commitments to hire local workers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Imperial Valley residents who have been on the butt end of get-rich schemes around water and real estate in the past are worried<\/a> that their political leaders may be giving away the store. As we explore in our new book, \u201cCharging Forward: Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles and a Just Future<\/a>,\u201d the U.S. has an opportunity to ensure that these residents directly benefit from the lithium extraction boom, which is an important part of the global shift to clean energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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