California's next big valley, "Lithium Valley," powering electric car future

California's next big valley, "Lithium Valley," powering electric car future

Long a hub of geothermal power production, a forgotten backwater of Southern California known as the Salton Sea, is a bountiful reservoir of lithium, is being dubbed “Lithium Valley.” The silvery-white metal is now in huge demand as it is used in electric vehicle batteries. Ben Tracy reports.

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50 Comments

  1. Grayman Bad on February 8, 2022 at 12:42 am

    You can bet Insider Trader Pelosi has her hooks in this project already!!!!!👀

  2. ADA FTW on February 8, 2022 at 12:45 am

    Ridin’ with Biden, good job grandpa Joe!!!

  3. Navan Mander on February 8, 2022 at 12:48 am

    I love it bruh

  4. Ligma Knutts on February 8, 2022 at 12:48 am

    So the Australian guy said at this stage all of it’s for us keyword stage not permanently and then the guy with the geothermal plant subliminally admitted to throwing away lithium a decade ago

  5. james more on February 8, 2022 at 12:50 am

    finding lithium? what about the 10’s of thousands of old batteries? funny how the US doesnt have one. so what will they do with them in Cal?????

  6. Selrahc on February 8, 2022 at 12:50 am

    Too little, Too late. I Remember reading about this lake years ago as a kid now its being worked on not just to save the ecosystem and the local area but also so companies can get material rights. What a joke only took the 70s , 80s, 90s, 2010, 2020 , for somebody’s wallet to finally care.

  7. Donovan Lewis on February 8, 2022 at 12:51 am

    Lots of false information here. Lithium is NOT the main ingredient in a lithium ion battery. Nickel is the majority material in the battery. We need to start to mine that metal to get ahead of this.

  8. Sara Davis on February 8, 2022 at 12:51 am

    To put economic value on natural resources extracted sounds like moving from one problem now to a future problem that impacts the sustainability of the planet….

  9. Sergio Hernandez on February 8, 2022 at 12:52 am

    Niland is now the backbone of Americas future

  10. Ruth Nolan on February 8, 2022 at 12:53 am

    The Salton Sea is not naturally *drying up.* San Diego County is taking the water, a dirty deal brokered by the super-powerful Imperial Irrigation District, inflicting this major environmental and social justice disaster (high respiratory illness rate among residents near the Sea, etc.) FYI. How much more damage will be done by lithium mining?

  11. Grayman Bad on February 8, 2022 at 12:53 am

    China owns the land!!!

  12. lilmonsta on February 8, 2022 at 12:55 am

    Who would’ve thought that the Man made lake would do something like that

  13. Dre Ruffin on February 8, 2022 at 12:56 am

    My only question is why can’t we just do hydrogen vehicles instead of electric?

  14. Lawrence Rasmus on February 8, 2022 at 12:56 am

    Lithium is already obsolete , waste of news. The new battery technology won’t use it ,Graphene is the new battery

  15. Jeff Truax on February 8, 2022 at 12:57 am

    At what COST to HEALTH and ENVIROMENT??…. TELL THE PEOPLE HOW MUCH DEADLY POLUTION THIS MINING CAUSES…. TELL PEOPLE HOW MUCH DESTRUCTION COMES FROM THIS MINING…. TELL THEM THE RESPRITORY PROBLEMS PEOPLE WILL FACE….

    TELL THE PEOPLE THE TRUTH OF THE DANGERS INSTEAD OF BRAGGING HOW MUCH MONEY YOU WILL MAKE… OR SCARE TACTICS OF NATIONAL SECURITY

  16. fish n beer on February 8, 2022 at 12:59 am

    And what do we do with the lithium batteries when they are worn out?

  17. Mee Hung Lowe on February 8, 2022 at 1:02 am

    Are they really going to let a bunch of Imperial Valley meth heads work with toxic heavy metals? Yikes.

  18. Striker 50 on February 8, 2022 at 1:04 am

    Literally no one is calling it Lithium Valley

  19. Lone Friar on February 8, 2022 at 1:04 am

    2.9% is astounding. For now.

  20. M. L. on February 8, 2022 at 1:06 am

    lol to all the people who want EVs for a green future yet here we are talking about mining California out. Grand. Just a grand situation for everyone involved and having a conversation about it.

  21. Harry Wild on February 8, 2022 at 1:07 am

    CBS left out that 1% is from the municipalities and federal government ownership. Only 1.9% are individual ownership.

  22. That Guy on February 8, 2022 at 1:07 am

    California is plagued with roaming brown outs and can’t keep its own power on. They told people recently to NOT charge their car at home.

  23. J G on February 8, 2022 at 1:08 am

    Well now California can stop being a parasite on the US

  24. Furious Rivera on February 8, 2022 at 1:08 am

    Tell me who is hiring?! I’m on my way to become a lithium miner …

  25. Thesilent One on February 8, 2022 at 1:09 am

    So are they using geothermal and collecting the Lithium as well as making energy or are they just pumping it up to just collect the Lithium.
    If its just Lithium shut it down.
    If its geothermal and there collecting the Lithium as a byproduct then ok its fine.
    Thoughts.

  26. GeilerRitter on February 8, 2022 at 1:10 am

    And the next best idea an American has when building an electric vehicle is an SUV. dear lord, your people deserves its downfall.

  27. Jodi Z on February 8, 2022 at 1:10 am

    Calipatria is a prison town. Are the rehabilitated prisoners included in the hiring legislation?

  28. uhadme on February 8, 2022 at 1:11 am

    This punk is checking my reality.
    Don’t let that just slip past your conscious.. click away.

  29. Dante Dorian on February 8, 2022 at 1:14 am

    Since hella people in the comments clearly weren’t paying attention…

    They’re not going to mine the lithium, it’s being pumped up with hydrothermal water. They take the heat energy and the lithium and pump the water right back down. It would literally be the most environmentally friendly source of lithium in the world. Australia mines it.

    This is a very good thing for the environment and Imperial Valley.

  30. a g on February 8, 2022 at 1:16 am

    Wait for lithium to leak into our water and oceans systems. Its worse then oil or gas.

  31. Juan-Pablo Veizaga on February 8, 2022 at 1:17 am

    Stick to TSLA 📈

  32. J G on February 8, 2022 at 1:18 am

    That’s from rich parents buying them and lithium mining hurts the earth more

  33. Aleiyah collado on February 8, 2022 at 1:20 am

    i would buy an electric car, if i knew how to fix it, lol. i guess i will stick to gas engines

  34. Philip Kirschner on February 8, 2022 at 1:25 am

    Tesla Leads the pack

  35. Jeremy on February 8, 2022 at 1:25 am

    As a resident of El Centro and the Imperial Valley Area
    I really hope we are able to reap the benefits and fix the Salton sea.
    But I highly doubt that.

  36. MARK BN on February 8, 2022 at 1:25 am

    Can we get a robot president to run the country I know it would do a better job than what we have Now !

  37. Navan Mander on February 8, 2022 at 1:28 am

    yes

  38. Philip Kirschner on February 8, 2022 at 1:28 am

    Gm no thank you

  39. Arthur Brumagem on February 8, 2022 at 1:29 am

    So we are going to “ mine” lithium for EVs. So much for environmental concern.

  40. Alberto Serrano on February 8, 2022 at 1:29 am

    Musk must be up all night wondering why he left for texas 😂 all cali lithium batteries should be sold to him at mocked up prices for all those years cali gave him tax free encentives

  41. Darc Mavis on February 8, 2022 at 1:30 am

    Blind Fools

  42. Chicago Rc on February 8, 2022 at 1:31 am

    for all the people who are unaware , California plans to stop the sale of gas vehicles by 2025. its just a matter of time before all states start this and we are forced to lose our vehicles because not everyone can afford a Electric car. I rerally hate this

  43. thierry on February 8, 2022 at 1:34 am

    Lol

  44. Aaron on February 8, 2022 at 1:35 am

    gold was discovered in california again 😂

  45. Ligma Knutts on February 8, 2022 at 1:36 am

    Eduardo’s excited cuz he gets to make more money cuz there’s more money in his district he doesn’t give a f*** about that community

  46. al rent on February 8, 2022 at 1:36 am

    It’s not that they didn’t care about it. The fact that before the price of lithium was too low to mine it. Now that it’s in demand the price has risen. Making it worth mining.

  47. Dan H on February 8, 2022 at 1:38 am

    Seems awfully convenient. Draining the lake and causing a major environmental problem is now justified.

  48. Jess G on February 8, 2022 at 1:40 am

    advance public transportation like japan , not more cars

  49. bosko bells on February 8, 2022 at 1:41 am

    Lithium + 5g =radioactive nuclear pollution our air will be filled with cancer

  50. houchi69 on February 8, 2022 at 1:41 am

    Real estate. GO GO GO!!!

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