As opposed to all the other stuff we're mining?

Lithium mining outrage is a sham. What about the many, many more tons of iron ore, aluminum ore, copper ore, etc., that we're mining? Lithium mining is just a tiny fraction of those.

It’s a sham unless you live there

You're not getting my point.

There is no "do A or do nothing at all". It's always "do A or do B". So there is always an opportunity cost.

Do you think people living near coal mines or fracking sites or whatever have it any better?

Do you think that if we didn't mine lithium we'd all become noble savages* again and live in peace with nature?

The objective is to minimize harm, choose the lesser of two evils.

* This is a myth, by the way.

I know what you mean but your opinion is convenient since you don’t live in a lithium mining town. Look up documentaries about that.

Now this is white knighting at its finest.

We're producing 77.000 tons of lithium a year.

We're producing ~7800 million tons (!!!) of coal per year.

You're either nitpicking for who knows what reason, or it's a bad faith argument.

Yes, lithium mining is bad for the environment. Yes, it probably sucks to be living in a lithium mining town. Yes, lithium is still the least bad alternative we have. Yes, people in those lithium mining towns should be compensated better and their lives should be improved.

There is nothing we can do as humanity, to absolutely, definitely, not harm someone or something. Life is a compromise and lithium is a huge step up from where we are now.

If you're saying otherwise, then go look up documentaries about coal mining, fracking & shale oil in general.

TL;DR: Lithium mining sucks but not mining any lithium sucks more. In parallel to mining more and more lithium, we should improve the mining process and also improve the lives of communities affected by lithium mining.