Remember all the fanfare when then Democrat Governor, Jennifer Granholm announced her vision of Michigan becoming the ‘advanced lithium ion battery ‘ capital?

Here is a recent Op-Ed from Jennifer Granholm (December 9th, 2010):

As last week’s jobs numbers reminded us, emerging from the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression isn’t going to be easy. We need to be creative and daring. We need a moon shot — a Jobs Race to the Top. The goal: Create 3 million jobs in three years.

It’s doable with an aggressive strategy. In Michigan, we are trying our own version of this race — focused on the lithium-ion advanced battery for electric cars, a high-tech product previously manufactured almost exclusively in Asia.

We offered irresistible state tax incentives for manufacturers of “advanced energy storage.” We pancaked our state incentives on top of the competitive federal Department of Energy grants to advanced-battery companies and suppliers. We also created robust public-private partnerships.

What she is trying to say is that she, and the Federal government, threw tons of money at these manufactures. Mrs. Granholm continues…

In just over a year, we have attracted 18 domestic and international companies, which are projected to create 63,000 private-sector jobs in Michigan. With breathtaking speed, we built an entire advanced-battery “ecosystem” for the purpose of electrifying the automobile.

What excuse do libs and environmentalists (I know, they are one in the same) use to push EV’s? The are always  pushing the idea that we need to use lithium ion batteries to replace imported and ‘dangerous’ foreign oil. You know, from places like Canada and Mexico.

One big problem with this idea is… The United States does not have any significant reserves of lithium. We have known this for a long time.

However, this does not deter some intrepid lithium speculators. Check out this article outlining the performance of  Lithium Corporation, who as you probably guessed, mines lithium in the US:

Lithium Corporation recently received approval from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to drill on its Cortez property. After the compilation of the fieldwork done to date, the company expects to submit another application soon to drill at Salt Wells.

The company is also looking at lithium brine properties in South America. Although, the company is focused to explore and develop lithium resources in the United States, the availability of lithium-enriched environments, and the interest of the major lithium producers and end users in South America suggests evaluation of opportunities in this region for the company.

As of December 31, 2010, Lithium Corporation has accumulated losses of $1,093,386 since inception and has earned no revenues since inception. The company’s strategy moving forward is to fund operations through equity financing arrangements, which may be insufficient to fund its capital expenditures, working capital and other cash requirements for the year ending December 31, 2011.

Sure, the BLM will approve ‘drilling’ for lithium, but not oil.  And, ironically they can’t make any money.