A crucial aspect of electrified transportation is new demand for metals, and specifically the most nonreplaceable metal for EV batteries—lithium. If today’s demand for EVs is projected to 2050, the lithium requirements of the US EV market alone would require triple the amount of lithium currently produced for the entire global market. This boom in demand would be met by the expansion of mining.
Large-scale mining entails social and environmental harm, in many cases irreversibly damaging landscapes without the consent of affected communities.
If today’s conditions are projected to 2050, US EV demand for lithium alone would require triple the amount of lithium produced today for the global market
This report finds that the United States can achieve zero-emissions transportation while limiting the amount of lithium mining necessary by reducing the car dependence of the transportation system, decreasing the size of EV batteries, and maximizing lithium recycling.
Increasing mass and active transit as well as keeping passenger vehicles smaller makes for safer communities. Reducing the size of passenger vehicles also can make the roads far safer because smaller cars have fewer and less severe crashes. Making bus routes, metros, and electric bikes faster, safer, and more convenient will disproportionately support low-income and non-white community members—who are more likely to live near high traffic areas and bear the environmental health burdens of relatively poorer air quality compared to higher-income and white counterparts.
The Climate and Community Project’s 2022 report, “A Green New Deal for Transportation,” outlined just such a vision for a green, environmentally just mobility network, with specific recommendations for public policy and programs to transform the US transportation sector.
Ultimately, climate, transit, and Indigenous justice can be aligned.
