Mining cobalt and lithium in the U.S. is difficult. There is only a limited amount of cobalt to be found (basically Idaho for cobalt), and the one mine in Idaho that opened had to close due to market prices. The rest largely comes from China and the DRC, which has inhumane mining practices and tenuous relations with the US.
As proud owners of hippos, I'm not sure any of us can appeal to having a small or green footprint. I generally don't try to pretend the grass is greener on either side, but it's also surely not greener on the petroleum side the way the 200-series swills fuel. Mining and manufacturing for initial production is one thing, but is not the same degree as continuous mining of petroleum products for sustainment. Sure, electricity comes from somewhere too, but that has lots of potential to draw from cleaner sources and higher efficiencies.