Reporter David Weinberg takes us to the desert of Southern California, where geologists have discovered half a trillion dollars worth of lithium trapped in a toxic brine deep beneath the state’s largest lake. The system to extract it has never been tried before. Will profits trickle down to fix the broken infrastructure, provide much needed new jobs and save the Salton Sea? Or will property values skyrocket, drive the locals out of town and environmental hazards emerge from this unprecedented experiment?

Topics covered:

• Geothermal power
• Lithium extraction
• Poverty in the US

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Music by bluedot Sessions and Epidemic Sound.

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