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Will the Salton Sea power the future?
A swing set stands alone in the Salton Sea on Feb. 4, 2021. Photo by Shae Hammond for CalMatters
Could one of California’s biggest environmental problems end up being one of its biggest solutions? Today, a new state commission on lithium extraction will meet for the first time to discuss the treasure lurking beneath the Salton Sea, whose plumes of toxic dust blanket the Imperial Valley, a long-overlooked corner of the state near the Arizona and Mexico borders. The sea contains brine rich in lithium, one of the planet’s most prized elements used to manufacture electric-car batteries and other forms of energy storage, CalMatters’ Julie Cart reports. Companies mining the sea to produce geothermal energy are beginning to explore harvesting lithium there, too — and California has already doled out $16 million in grants in the hopes of transforming the ailing desert into a juggernaut that will power the next century. But local residents worry lithium extraction could simply result in more waste and pollution.