There is the smell of fresh greenwash in the air. It is highly unlikely that the prospect of Lithium as a byproduct will justify taking more natural gas out of the ground. Let us not forget that it’s a fossil fuel that has long been too abundant and cheap to produce. Producers don’t plan to meet domestic demand with it, they will liquify it and ship it elsewhere to make plastic and burn. When you net out all the negatives, producing gas and recovering Lithium will make the climate and environment worse.

We don’t see any of the producers volunteering to pick up the tab for remediating the past environmental problems like their leaky abandoned wells or to compensate for the damage done to people and nature. Here are some recent breathless articles.

Pennsylvania could become huge player in lithium mining

HARRISBURG (TNS) — Pennsylvania could become a massive contributor to the United States’ quest for lithium after scientists discovered a large reservoir of the chemical element in fracking wastewater outside

Giant, multi-billion-dollar source of lithium found under Pennsylvania

Over 1,200 tons of lithium could be recovered per year from Pennsylvania’s natural gas ‘fracking’ wastewater alone, according to US National Energy Technology Lab

Fracking does nothing to improve the environment. It hurts the locals and spews polluted water and lots of nasty toxic stuff.