Contrast the impact modern oil drilling has on the environment: one rig can reach for miles underground without disturbing the local wild life.  I am not saying oil drilling is entirely clean, but balance that against the strip mining, deforestation, and water pollution as mentioned in this video.  Imagine the new "gold rush" to find other locations of minerals. What happens with the current mines are exhausted?  And consider that right now, those batteries are not recyclable.,(reply>), This video needs to be put in perspective: The world currently mines a tiny 0.1 million tons of lithium per year in a handful of mines,  compared to 32,000 million barrels of oil, 86,000 million tons of strip mined coal, 4,000,000,000,000 cubic meters of natural gas and a 100 billion tons of other products from over 110 million active mines,  destroying 1.5% of the world's surface.<br><br>All Tesla batteries are going to be recycled (the only issue at the moment is there are practically no batteries to recycle as can last decades, and even when end of EV life batteries live on as power walls etc.)