The Great Basin is composed of Horst and Graben [1] (i.e. Mountain ridges separating basins) geology. H&G happens when the Earth's crust is stretched. The stretching also makes the crust much thinner than normal -- that's why there are tons of cider cones and old lava flows in the Great Basin region.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_and_graben

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basin_and_Range_Province

Take a close look at aerial images pretty much anywhere in the US SW desert.

EDIT: Just because you can see crunky white stuff from the sky doesn't mean you have a lithium mine on your hands! :-)

So, recycling for example needs to be a net gain when adjusting for externality's not just a pointless feel good measure. Eco homes are another pointless waste. Want to save the environment live in a condo.

Basically, you can do what you want with your land, but don't hurt other peoples air, water, etc.

PS: Needless to say, rarely do I find people with similar viewpoints.

A significant amount of the total lifetime energy usage of a car is made up by it's manufacture. It is not trivial to say you should always buy something new and more efficient.

All cars have significant manufacturing costs. So saying that making batteries has energy expensive processes isn't an argument that disqualifies EVs. An EV will have much less impact on the environment over its lifetime than a gas-powered car manufactured in the same year.

Put bluntly: if I'm the battery manufacturer, my main goal is a profitable operation, not the end-user's ecological footprint.

If having to "just boil it" means I lose money on the product, then I don't have a business.