Maine woods ought to be in the mix for mining lithium
We can’t keep sourcing our materials ‘from away’
For generations, we have sourced many of our needed materials — be it oil from Saudi Arabia, coal from Kentucky, or vinyl from the Gulf Coast — “from away.” We continue to do so with little acknowledgment of the impacts that resource industries have on the communities that produce the goods we want.
Now we are faced with the opportunity of mining lithium from Maine (“Into the woods, seeking buried treasure,” Page A1, April 2), and those opposed to the project recommend that this needed material be sourced from away (Nevada or North Carolina). Just not rural Maine.
But there is no more away. Gone are the days when our needs and wants are met solely through the anonymous labor of others. If we want the benefits of modern technology, we need to be more honest about the supply chain.
Given the significance and visibility of this mineral deposit, a lithium mine in Maine would be allowed to operate only if it set the gold standard for safe and responsible resource extraction. The same may not be said for a facility in the Democratic Republic of Congo or China.
Better here than away.
If we want the benefits of modern technology, we need to be more honest about the supply chain.
JIM HAMILTON
Arlington
Time to rethink the colonial model of offshoring environmental costs
As a native Mainer with an environmental bent, my reflexive reaction to the question of whether to mine the lithium ore deposits found there was that protection of the forests and wildlife should be the guiding principle. After further thought, I think that’s too narrow a view.
American industries have long relied on the Global South for strategic minerals. For example, the United States imports vast amounts of nickel from South Africa, copper from Chile, and cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Unprocessed lithium currently comes mainly from South America.
The epic challenge of the energy transition demands that we rethink the colonial model of offshoring the environmental costs of mining to Third World nations. If lithium is essential to the successful decarbonization of the global economy, the United States is responsible for bearing its share of the environmental cost of mining it.
Using the most ecologically responsible methods available, Maine’s lithium ore must be extracted.
FREDERICK HEWETT
Cambridge