This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

In a way, this blog could be said to be about golf again.  But, it’s not, at least not specifically.

It’s about resources to produce lithium batteries, one use for which is to power new golf carts that use lithium, not water, in their batteries.

So, why a blog about lithium?

Well, there are huge deposits of lithium in the two states where I live – Oregon and California.  So, the subject is of interest to me, as well as conveying opportunities for both states to mine lithium and provide jobs for residents of both states.  Thus, this blog.

So it was that I read stories a few days ago from two credible media outlets — Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) and CBS News.  [In the spirt of full disclosure, OPB was a major client of mine when I toiled as a lobbyist, so I readily admit to bias in favor of OPB.]

Here are selected excerpts of stories from OPB and CBS. 

In a story by reporter Bradley Parks, OPB wrote this:

“A super-volcano, a massive eruption and a lost lake left Oregon with what could be the largest known lithium deposit in the United States.

“Sammy Castonguay (an expert on the land area in Oregon) broke a chunk of rock off a small outcropping on the northeast rim of the McDermitt Caldera on the Oregon-Nevada border and pinned it to the ground with his boot.  He raised his hammer and, with a gentle swing, smashed the rock into smaller pieces.

“Castonguay was collecting samples for his geology students at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, Oregon, on a sunny Friday in January.  He said teaching about this ancient super-volcano is a lot easier when he can hand a piece of the soft, white rock to his pupils.

“Others are looking for their piece of the McDermitt Caldera, too.

“The caldera has some of the highest concentrations of lithium in the United States.  Lithium is the lightest metal on earth and highly reactive, making it an ideal ingredient in batteries to power cellphones, lap-tops and electric vehicles.”

According to Parks, the lithium rush is coming to Oregon as the U.S. and global powers seek more of the metal to power electric vehicles and store renewable energy from wind and solar.  Digging up Oregon’s lithium would mean sacrificing this chunk of the sagebrush sea to provide the nation with a key ingredient to wean itself off fossil fuels.

In the other story, CBS news reported lithium developments at
Salton Sea, about 10 miles east of where I live in the winter.  The story appeared under this headline:  “This is going to be a game changer – treasure hidden under the Salton Sea could be inside the next car you buy.”

Here are excerpts from the story:

“The Salton Sea, located about 120 miles east of San Diego, is the largest inland body of water in the state of California. 

“But even on a sunny afternoon, you won’t see it packed with boats or people lounging on the beach. This area has been declining for decades, but there is hope for the future. 

“Eight thousand feet below the Salton Sea is a chemical that some call ‘white gold.’

“Tesla, and its lightweight lithium battery powered cars, changed everything (for the Salton Sea).  Now, several automobile makers want lithium for their batteries. 

“So now the race is now on to mine the lithium under the Salton Sea. The California Energy Commission estimates the Salton Sea could produce 600,000 tons of lithium a year.  That’s far more than the current world demand.  And it could be worth $7.2 billion. 

“Company plans call for a $500 million project that includes drilling a well 8,000 feet down where the lithium is found in superheated saltwater that can reach 700 degrees inside ancient geothermal reservoirs. 

“Steam from that hot water will provide another benefit, clean energy to power the lithium mining. 

“And we’re not talking decades from now, but only a year or two. General Motors needs lithium fast as it plans for 30 fully electric models by 2025.  And that also means hundreds of new, well-paying jobs, and Jim says more than 95 per cent of them will go to people living in the area.”

So, that’s the deal:

• Development work will extract lithium from both Oregon and California that will power batteries around the world – including for a new golf cart I want to buy.
• The work will mean economic development prospects for both areas that have been hard hit by lean times.  Translate this into one phrase:  New, high-paying jobs.

For me, I’ll watch all this happen for the states of Oregon and Washington, while hoping that the companies involved will be smart and savvy about capitalizing on the opportunities.