California Wants Its Imperial Valley to Be ‘Lithium Valley’
California officials, who have spent years studying the idea, don’t merely see Imperial County as a glorified mine. The lithium, they say, could become the foundation of a local market that could make the U.S. a force in a battery industry that China dominates. They want as many future jobs to be clustered in California as possible. They’ve even started using the name “Lithium Valley” to brand the idea. Because the lithium is there, they reason, why not make the batteries there, too, at factories powered by clean geothermal energy?
