Exactly. Those photos of evap ponds evoke a strong emotional...

Exactly.
Those photos of evap ponds evoke a strong emotional response. It looks like a lot of wasted fresh water and in some cases like the Atacama more brine is extracted than is sustainable while it also competes with some of the world's largest copper producers for water usage.
Elsewhere brine is extracted and converted to Li Chemicals sustainably and with very minimal environmental impact.
I'm not saying that brine production is not environmentally damaging, I just believe it is debatable as to whether brine vs hard rock is more sustainable in general and it is quite clear that hard rock is more carbon intensive to produce lithium chemicals from.
Nothing is black and white, its all shades of Grey but I find it interesting how quickly spodumene shareholders shout down environmental impacts of brine extraction while completely ignoring what is involved in the spodumene to Li Chemical process.
I find it all quite hypocritical. Why is it so hard for people to acknowledge the hard rock process environmental toll while so vocally complaining about usage of brine?