Charging forward: ‘Lithium Valley’ could offer prosperity for marginalized area of California

CHRIS BENNER AND MANUEL PASTOR have had front row seats to the changes taking place in the so-called Lithium Valley, the region around the Salton Sea, where a network of companies have hatched a plan for local and state government entities to mine vast quantities of lithium to use in the batteries that power electric vehicles. In their new book, “Charging Forward: Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles, and a Just Future,” they take a close look at the burgeoning new industry and what it would take for it to bring about an equitable transition in one of the poorest regions in the state.

Benner is a professor of environmental studies and sociology at UC Santa Cruz, and Pastor is a professor of sociology and American studies and ethnicity at University of Southern California — but they aren’t your typical ivory tower academics. Since 2007, Benner and Pastor have written five previous books together, always in response to existing questions that arise in the marginalized communities with whom they work.

In the case of the Lithium Valley, three companies are planning to use a method called direct lithium extraction, a high-heat process that extracts the mineral from the brine created during geothermal power production. This approach is less environmentally destructive than open-pit mining and uses less water than mining that relies on large evaporation ponds. And at a time when a vast percentage of the world’s lithium is mined outside the U.S., it could also be a game changer for domestic sourcing; the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that there’s enough lithium deep down below the Salton Sea to support over 375 million batteries for electric vehicles.