Geography and Anthropology Associate Professor James J.A. Blair, who studies the social impacts of lithium extraction, warns that development in Imperial Valley communities already facing significant inequalities could deepen those disparities. He also warns that lithium's role in the clean-energy transition can overshadow environmental and community concerns, including evidence of water depletion associated with extraction. “They're using lithium as a kind of loophole to make everything seem green,” he says.

This article was originally published by Times of San Diego on October 18, 2026.