NASA opposes lithium mining at tabletop flat Nevada desert site used to calibrate satellites

[littlemissmartypants]

The latest challenge to lithium mining in Nevada in the push for cleaner energy comes from a place where no opposition has arisen before: space

By SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press
June 23, 2023, 12:13 AM




Nevada Lithium Nasa Satellites
In this undated photo provided by NASA, a satellite captures the Railroad Valley (RRV), a dry lakebed in Nevada, for conducting ground-based calibration of Earth-observing satellite instruments. At the request of NASA, U.S. land managers have withdrawn about 36 square miles of federal land otherwise open to mineral exploration and mining at the site 250 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei has introduced legislation that would rescind the land withdrawal and potentially reopen it to mining. (NASA via AP)
The Associated Press


RENO, Nev. -- Environmentalists, tribal leaders and others have fought for years against lithium mining ventures in Nevada. Yet opposition to mining one particular desert tract for the silvery white metal used in electric car batteries is coming from unusual quarters: space.

An ancient Nevada lakebed beckons as a vast source of the coveted element needed to produce cleaner electric energy and fight global warming. But NASA says the same site — flat as a tabletop and undisturbed like none other in the Western Hemisphere — is indispensable for calibrating the razor-sharp measurements of hundreds of satellites orbiting overhead.

Snip...

NASA says the long, flat piece of land above the untapped lithium deposit in Nevada's Railroad Valley has been used for nearly three decades to get measurements just right to keep satellites and their applications functioning properly.

“No other location in the United States is suitable for this purpose,” the Bureau of Land Management concluded in April after receiving NASA's input on the tract 250 miles (400 kilometers) northeast of Las Vegas.
Snip...

More at the link.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nasa-opposes-lithium-mining-tabletop-flat-nevada-desert-100326931

❤️pants

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. OK. The lithium will have to come from some other mine, someplace that NASA doesn't need. nt

[Duppers]

2. And from Earth org, no less....

"...taking the environmental impacts of lithium and cobalt mining into account. Though emissions deriving from mining these two elements are lower than those deriving from fossil fuels production, the extraction methods for lithium and cobalt can be very energy intensive – leading to air and water pollution, land degradation, and potential for groundwater contamination."

https://earthorg.mystagingwebsite.com/lithium-and-cobalt-mining/#

Earth org is pro-environment.

Jeepers. Damn if we do & if we don't.

[Old Crank]

3. How much cash

Is the Republican stuffing his pockets with for approving mining?

He must be pro putin because this will hurt our military satellites also.

[Lonestarblue]

4. Republicans don't care what they destroy so long as there's money in it for them.

Companies that want to mine in the US need to be pushed to develop innovative technologies to make it less polluting and damaging to the environment. It seems that the companies in Nevada want to use a brine pool, which is water intensive and risks groundwater contamination. Of course, these companies don’t care about that—Just their potential billions in sales for wealthy owners.

[NBachers]

5. NASA has priority.