In that case environmentalists should be very much in favor of the mine. Mining in the US is much cleaner than in most other countries so mining it here is not only better for our economy, but for the environment as well.
Your example actually is proof of this. It got cleaned up. It wouldn't in most countries.
Australia (where most lithium is being mined ATM) isn’t so far behind on the cleanup side. They are a liberal democracy after all. It isn’t clear to me if they are just getting off easy because they are shipping unrefined lithium ore to China, however.
Your example actually is proof of this. It got cleaned up. It wouldn't in most countries.