Gavin Newsoms touted $500B Saudi Arabia of Lithium dream stalls in Salton Sea thanks to red tape
An ambitious project to unlock Southern California’s vast lithium resources appears to have stalled, as promises by Gov.Gavin Newsom and other politicians to create “Lithium Valley” to help the state’s climate goals run into a gauntlet of red tape.
The state government and the mining industry have long eyed the Salton Sea — a toxic, shrinking lake in Imperial County — for its estimated $500 billion worth of untapped lithium, a mineral required for electric car batteries, smart phones and many electronics.Nicknamed the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” the Salton Sea region could even provide enough of the mineral to meet all of America’s future demand and more than one-third of global demand, according to some experts.But the main project to take advantage of that potential — named Hell’s Kitchen by the company Controlled Thermal Resources — has been stalled for years by environmental lawsuits, Calmatters reported.“It will be done in accordance with all of the rules and regulations of the state of California, which are not as easy as other states and other regions of the world,” Imperial County Supervisor Ryan Kelley told the outlet.
In 2023, the governor visited the Salton Sea area to tout the Hell’s Kitchen project — portraying the future mining as not only an economic boon but also a way for California to combat carbon emissions.“California is poised to become the world’s largest source of batteries, and it couldn’t come at a more crucial moment in our efforts to move away from fossil fuels,” Newsom said during his visit.Since then, however, environmental advocates have been getting in the way.Comite Civico del Valle, a social justice organization, and Earthworks, a mining watchdog group, sued Controlled Thermal Resources in 2024 over alleged neglect in its environmental impact report related to air quality, water use and more.
They contend that the project will hurt those resources.An appellate court ruled this August in favor...