Well sure, even salt extraction can have an impact. Have you seen the salt extraction facilities at the Dead Sea? Someone could write an exposé about how our demand for salt is a “big problem” illustrated with dramatic pictures. But we need some perspective here, and anecdotes are way too easy to cherry-pick. The amount of lithium needed is minuscule compared to the amount of oil. 5 kilograms of pure lithium for a Model 3 versus like 20000kg of gasoline for an equivalent fossil fuel car. And the lithium can be recycled at end of use. But what’s 3 or 4 orders of magnitude between friends?
