Sure, but the available options aren't limited to "mine lithium in Maine" and "do absolutely nothing".

Genuinely curious, what are the alternatives to the three?

1. Mine lithium 2. Drill oil 3. Do nothing

You have to store energy somehow, even if the entire world shifted to walking everywhere. Goods still need to traverse the world and thus far there hasn't been anything else with a high enough energy density to get close.

The argument being made is that if mining lithium becomes more popular, its likely to lead to advancements that do limit its ecological impact and provide a more sustainable method for storing energy...

Alternatives:

Mine somewhere else.

Non-lithium approaches to storing energy.

If America is benefiting from the Lithium we should also be mining it at home. Let's not shift our negative cost externalities to a different nation but instead own them.

Do you have examples of portable, non-mined or extracted alternatives to storing energy?

Carbohydrates. We can stick a needle in our blood to generate energy for portables.

This is like one step away from the Morlock and Eloi.