I Don't "Mine"

I was perusing the current events yesterday when an article caught my eye. There was an announcement by a key supplier of the Toyota Motor Corp., that they had formed a partnership to mine lithium on Argentina, securing access to a metal critical to the production of future hybrid and electric cars. Wonderful news, no?

I'm sure global warming activists everywhere were dancing in the streets. Those carbon emitting, gas guzzling, environment ruining, motor cars are on the verge of extinction.

"This generation and the next generation of batteries in automobiles ... is going to be lithium," said Don Hillebrand, director of the Transportation Research Center at Argonne National Laboratory. "Looking at the cutting edge stuff 10 or 30 years out, that's going to be lithium too, and probably more lithium intensive."

Lithium will play a bigger role in the auto industry, especially at Toyota, which has plans to sharply boost its hybrid and electric vehicle production this decade. The lightest metal on the periodic table, lithium is a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries — currently found mostly in cell phones and laptops but expected to be more widely used in future automobile batteries

Conventional hybrids are widely expected to give way in the coming years to plug-in hybrids. These, unlike traditional hybrids, can be plugged into a wall socket and run for long stretches on electricity alone. Toyota is launching plug-in hybrids along with battery-powered cars running solely on electricity starting in model-year 2012. Both will be powered by lithium-ion batteries.

Last week, the company announced plans to double its global hybrid sales to 1 million annually, with many likely to be powered with lithium-ion batteries.

Now on the surface this looks like great news. We are beginning to eliminate our dependence on foreign energy; or are we?

Most of the world's lithium is produced in South America, China and Australia. Chile and Argentina together account for about half the world's 27,400 metric tons of lithium production, though proven reserves have been found elsewhere.

We had lithium mines here in the United States but alas we shut them down. It appears we are headed down the same path as oil. We have it here, but choose to be dependent on foreign sources for our energy supplies. I guess we'll never learn. If we out-source manufacturing, our economy is doomed. We cannot survive as a consumption nation. We have to use our natural resources and labor.

Now let's look at what the tree huggers have missed in their glee. The word "mined" keep popping up. I don't know about you, but it's been my experience that "mining" is a taboo in the world of the environmentalist. Perhaps in their enthusiasm to replace fossil fuels they've overlooked the process this metal is secured?

So let's review...We traded oil for lithium, lithium is mined, creating a possible environmental situation, and we rely on our supply from other nations, when we also possess a supply here in the states. Yup, that about sums it up. Now that's progress, or progressive.

God Bless
Capt. Bill
PS: Please use the link to the right to check out Chris Brady's blog today. The video is powerful.