EditorialAn aerial view of evaporation ponds at a lithium plant in the Atacama Desert of Chile, an essential component of batteries that is mined from the country’s salt flats, Dec. 15, 2021. (Marcos ZegersThe New York Times)
EditorialTeague Egan, center, the chief executive of EnergyX, stands amid the salt flats at Salar de Uuyuni in Bolivia on Aug. 30, 2021. (Meridith Kohut/The New York Times)
EditorialEvaporation ponds run by the state lithium company at a vast area of salt flats at Salar de Uuyuni in Bolivia on Sept. 2, 2021. (Meridith Kohut/The New York Times)
EditorialA road across salt flats in Ethiopia’s northern Afar region, which has been drawn into the conflict between the Ethiopian government and Tigryan rebels, on Nov. 10, 2019. (Finbarr O'Reilly/The New York Times)
EditorialAshley Dehetre and Katelyn Price, walk on the salt flats of Badwater Basin in Death Valley, Calif., on July 10, 20?21, after a 33-hour road trip from Detroit. (Roger Kisby/The New York Times)
EditorialMichael Bream, owner of EV West, on his electric motorcycle at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, Aug. 8, 2020. (Lindsay D'Addato/The New York Times)