At the same time this article seeks to debunk this meme, Slate perpetuates it with the semi-misleading subtitle. Especially for those people who only see the subtitle on the side menu bar and don't click on the link. For people like me who never heard this silly little tid bit for, suddenly the very idea the author seeks to debunk is planted! Wow!

When will Slate stop using silly and overly-provocative teasers and subtitles? At least this one only posed a question and wasn't a statement going several degrees beyond the content of the article.

Why does this inane silliness get written and perpetuated without attacking the fundamental reason the myth is wrong?

The reason the myth is propaganda is simple.

The nickel mine is not 100% dedicated to creating batteries for the Prius!

Find the total nickel output of the mine (not annually, total since the mine was started), and the number of nickel batteries created for the Prius. You will find that the number of Prius batteries is a very,very small percentage of the total output of the mine.

The Prius is in no way "responsible" for the condition of the nickel mine. The Hummer is, was, and always will be a grotesque perversion of vehicular transport.