Buying an electric car is all the rage among vast segments of our affluent population. They are self-described ecologically aware people; they are saving the planet from dreaded carbon-based fossil fuels. They are putting the money where their commitments are! You likely have a friend, co-worker, neighbor, or relative who is gung ho about their recent purchase.
Of late, however, we've learned of electric cars underperforming in cold weather, with tires wearing out in record time and others literally starting on fire, which is difficult to contain. In a recent most revealing article, the Wall Street Journal reports that government data regarding Tesla's performance efficiency has been severely doctored by... wait for it... the Biden Administration. Concurrently, Hertz is selling off its entire line of EVs.
No Friend of the Ecology
Western nations' environmental and climate change policies have been driving the electric car industry for many years. Literally, thousands of articles have been published that marvel at the wonders of EVs. Indeed, the speed at which these vehicles have been touted as vital to protecting the Earth is stupefying.
Industry proponents, Sierra Club members, and everyone who professes to be interested in preserving the environment has, perhaps unknowingly, allowed the technology to race ahead faster than our understanding of what is actually occurring.
The lithium mining required to make electric car batteries is hastening the upset of the ecology at a rate equal to or even greater than that of gasoline-powered vehicles.
It’s vital to understand that lithium mining is not an established industry. It's relatively new on the horizon. As such, its negative impact on the environment is not fully understood. For example, lithium mining on the scale required to populate countries with electric vehicles poses risks to local water supplies.
Not in Our Backyards
Strong advocates of electric cars have little concern about the net effect of lithium mining, perhaps because it doesn't happen in the U.S. Much of the extraction occurs in Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina. Too often, strip mining occurs in nations that have little or no environmental regulations.
The companies who profit from lithium mining are free to operate with impunity, and they know it. There is no oversight, no council, no jurisdiction, and no government, which, at least for now, is going to seek them out and haul their leaders before the nations' respective ruling bodies.
According to some forecasts, by 2030, approximately 125 million electric cars will be zipping along our highways. Would buyers who have gone ahead with the purchase, for economical as well as socially conscious reasons, feel good about themselves if they knew that lithium mining was potentially destructive to local water supplies?
Would they be equally eager to purchase if they knew that the world simply lacks the sufficient amount of lithium required to produce batteries for the forecasted number of electric vehicles on the road?
Risks in Plain Sight
For many years, U.S. environmentalists have railed against the drawbacks of fracking. Yet, lithium mining poses far greater environmental risks. The Biden administration is solidly behind the electric car movement, but then what kind of analysis has the administration taken on this and other vital issues?
By and large, electric car proponents within the U.S. never visit or see the countries from which lithium has been extracted. They don't know about the water shortages, the potential for biodiversity loss, soil degradation, damage to delicate features of the ecosystem, and, ironically, potential increases in global warming.
In those communities abroad where significant lithium mining occurs, the potential for air contamination rises. As time marches on, such communities will become impoverished, certainly in the health of their residents, if not economically, as the vital resources are drained and eventually depleted.
Apply the Breaks?
Perhaps the EV movement is due for a time-out. Recently, retired U.S. military officers expressed concern that the industry will be over-reliant on China. So, maybe we need to slow down, engage in greater research, take a broader view, and determine the best path if electric cars are the wave of the future. Falling in love with technology without understanding its full ramifications is a recipe for disaster.
The Earth is increasingly interconnected, which we all know and which Leftists know. Shall we pretend that the interconnectedness does not apply to the manufacture of electric vehicles?