California politicians want an all-electric future, powered by zero-emission vehicles, massive grid-scale batteries — and plenty of moral superiority. They want a green revolution while blocking the very materials needed to build it.

Down near the Salton Sea in Imperial County, an estimated $500 billion worth of lithium lies buried deep beneath the earth’s surface. State leaders enthusiastically christened the region “Lithium Valley,” promising it would become the Saudi Arabia of clean energy, and transform America’s battery supply chain overnight. 

But talk is cheap, and nobody talks a bigger game while delivering smaller results than Gov. Gavin Newsom. In March 2023, he personally toured the site of the flagship project, known colorfully as Hell’s Kitchen. He pitched the site as a monumental triumph toward ending fossil fuel reliance. San Diego State University even constructed a brand-new $80 million STEM facility nearby to train young workers for high-paying green jobs that do not yet exist — and, if California has its way, may never exist.

California’s relentless “green” regulatory machine arrived on schedule to derail the entire “green” enterprise. Local social justice groups and national environmental organizations filed lawsuits under state law, claiming the project’s environmental review failed to analyze water usage and air quality properly. Last month, a California appellate court sided with the activists, tossing out prior approvals and sending the company back to square one.

The Salton Sea fiasco exposes the fundamental paradox of modern progressive policy. State officials eagerly issue sweeping mandates while doing everything they can to prevent anyone from actually carrying them out. They speak in Orwellian tones, then leave individuals and businesses trapped in a Kafkaesque loop where the same people who champion the solution also outlaw it.

California policy demands millions of battery-powered cars on the road by decade’s end, yet treats the physical act of acquiring battery materials as an unforgivable offense.

The governance trap results in simple supply-chain shifting. When domestic projects face endless legal blockades, auto manufacturers turn directly to foreign suppliers. The environmental footprint doesn’t magically vanish into thin air. Instead, it moves straight to foreign countries operating with minimal oversight and enough carbon output to give a progressive activist a full-blown existential breakdown.

The state’s desperate drive for total regulatory purity forces complete reliance on foreign adversaries like China.

This insanity extends far beyond cars and batteries: Left-leaning policies frequently outlaw practical solutions long before viable replacements exist.

The list is exhausting: Housing goals are strangled by limousine liberals who weaponize environmental law to protect their ocean views, while utopian efforts of the past to dismantle police departments left local leaders shocked when crime predictably spiked. Power companies receive strict orders to scrap traditional plants, only to turn around and beg residents to sweat through summer heat waves without air conditioning because the grid cannot handle basic daily life.

State officials essentially run an economy sustained by wishful thinking and absurd edicts. They expect modern high-tech industries to materialize on sheer good intentions while systematically dismantling the practical capacity to build anything.

All is not lost, however. Just across the state border, Nevada demonstrates a dramatically different approach to getting things done.

Deep in Humboldt County, the Thacker Pass project sits atop one of the largest known lithium deposits on the continent. Developing a mine in Nevada involves federal oversight and intense scrutiny. The key difference is that Nevada maintains a clear, predictable approval process that lets projects navigate the courts and move toward construction, rather than drowning in endless administrative appeals.

Thacker Pass secured its permits, survived its legal challenges and moved directly into heavy construction. Today, workers operate heavy equipment on site, pour concrete foundations, assemble processing facilities and lay down essential infrastructure. The project remains on schedule to complete its first major construction phase and deliver actual battery-grade materials directly to American automakers.

Nevada treats industrial development as a practical necessity for modern society. It views critical-materials processing as a straightforward physical task that requires clear rules and honest execution.

California, by contrast, relies on a decidedly different model, attempting to mandate an advanced green future while weaponizing its legal framework to swat away every shovel that touches the dirt.

California’s perverse approach to policy generates plenty of self-congratulatory press releases. It also creates a trail of stalled developments and empty workforce training centers, where graduates enter a nonexistent job market. 

If America wants an electrified, self-sustaining economy, it depends on states willing to permit real work, not those intent on ensuring “green” projects die in “green” procedural purgatory before they even begin.

John Mac Ghlionn is a researcher and essayist.

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