[brocklobsta]

I was on a run last night and noticed the glow. How many times has that battery plant caught fire? Seems like grid scale battery technology is not ready for the lime light. AB 2514 forced utilities to build out this dumpster fire. It's ironic that California's climate solution is burning while the state blames climate change for the LA fire.

[audunw]

I don’t think you’re keeping in mind what these batteries are replacing.

Coal power plants and gasoline cars release harmful smoke as part of their regular operation.

ICE cars are several times more likely to catch fire than an EV, and contribute much more fuel to a parking garage fire (usually an EV battery caught in a fire will not itself ignite)

And the incidents related to the fossil fuel industry are orders of magnitude worse than incidents like this. Have you forgotten about deep water horizon?

There are also thousands upon thousands of old oil and gas wells in the US that haven’t been properly decommissioned, slowly corroding and leaking nasty stuff in the environment. The cost of properly plugging all of them has been estimated to be in the trillions of dollars.

Is there some name for the kind of fallacy people make where they’re so concerned about the dangers of whatever the new thing is, while completely glossing over the glaring issues of the old thing that’s being replaced because they’re so used to it?

I find it particularly baffling when it comes to EVs vs gasoline cars. People should know how dangerous gasoline is… right? It’s like, super basic knowledge for anyone born the last two centuries..

[hulitu]

> People should know how dangerous gasoline is… right?

From Wikipedia:

"Lithium metal is corrosive and requires special handling to avoid skin contact. Breathing lithium dust or lithium compounds (which are often alkaline) initially irritate the nose and throat, while higher exposure can cause a buildup of fluid in the lungs, leading to pulmonary edema. The metal itself is a handling hazard because contact with moisture produces the caustic lithium hydroxide. Lithium is safely stored in non-reactive compounds such as naphtha"

[anon84873628]

Other reports indicate this facility has had fires twice before.

[brocklobsta]

That seems like a high rate of fires given that plant opened at the end of 2020. I wonder what to total cost.