Slashdot Mirror
Bolivia Is the Saudi Arabia of Lithium
tcd004 writes "You can literally scrape valuable lithium off the ground of many Bolivian salt flats. The country is poised to be the center of world lithium battery production, reaping the benefit of the metal's skyrocketing value. 'The US Geological Survey says 5.4 million tons of lithium could potentially be extracted in Bolivia, compared with 3 million in Chile, 1.1 million in China and just 410,000 in the United States. ... Ailing automakers in the United States are pinning their hopes on lithium. General Motors next year plans to roll out its Volt, a car using a lithium-ion battery along with a gas engine. Nissan, Ford and BMW, among other carmakers, have similar projects.' However, the government fears foreign countries might exploit their natural resources, so for the time being, the salt flats remain untouched."
I'm sure the US government has the plan of "spotting" some Weapons of Mass Destruction... otherwise, they'll find a way to invade them and plunder the ressources...
Pass pass pass the buck, off to someone else...
I got paid, I don't give a shit, economics is hell...
We need food and we need heat, what are we to do...
Screw the farm, screw the axe, I'll take what I need from you...
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
Japanese and European companies are trying to strike deals to tap the resource, but a nationalist sentiment about the lithium is building in the government of President Evo Morales, an ardent critic of the United States who already has nationalized Bolivia's oil and natural-gas industries.
The way this reads, the criticism of the US stems from the fact that the US has nationalized Bolivia's hydrocarbons. The correct interpretation of the sentence (simplified) is : "Morales has nationalized Bolivia's oil and natural gas industries. Morales is an ardent crtiic of the United States." These two thoughts don't even belong in the same paragraph, nevermind the same sentence.
Just because you're posting articles online doesn't excuse you from editing them.
Recently Bolivia elected a left government and threw out the abusive elitist right government that had ruled for decades. What happened was the USA took their eyes off the ball in South America, and that small breathing space allowed a change of direction in many countries.
Did you know that there is a South American Union now? Perhaps you do. Most don't though.
But just before Bush left office, he got a bug up his ass and started bullying Bolivia around again. In October 2008 the US cut off Bolivia from a trade deal, because they wouldn't play ball with their stupid war on drugs.
Now they've got the lithium, and we need their lithium, look out for some kind of dumbass plot to get rid of the lefties in Bolivia.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!