Extraction And The Green Economy (w/ Thea Riofrancos)

The Climate Pod is going to be live in Chicago! Join us for our Chicago Climate Bash, the hottest comedy show on the planet! On Sunday, October 26th at 5 pm CT at The Lincoln Lodge, we're featuring an amazing lineup of great comedians and expert guests. There will be standup, panels, music, and more. This show is a live recording of The Climate Pod. Featuring Chad The Bird, Lucia Whalen, a very special guest, and more! Get your tickets now: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chicago-climate-bash-tickets-1758346845749?aff=oddtdtcreator

----

This week, we explore the complexities, concerns, and major issues surrounding the extraction of critical minerals for the green economy. Professor Thea Riofrancos, author of the book Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism, delves into the various problems with lithium mining and its implications for the global energy transition. She shares how lithium serves as a lens to explore broader issues of green capitalism, supply chains, and community-level organizing. We also talk about how to balance this with the urgent need to decarbonize transportation and energy sectors, emphasizing lithium's pivotal role in electric vehicles and grid balancing.

Riofrancos also explains how the history of extraction in Latin America helps shape the power dynamics in the region and what leaders learned from past efforts to protect natural resources. We explore the environmental and social impacts of mining in Chile, a major provider of copper and lithium, and the political shifts in recent years that are influencing resource governance. 

We also discuss the role of private governance in the mining sector and talk abou the importance, and often absence, of public regulation and democratic processes in achieving sustainable and equitable resource management.

Thea Riofrancos is a political science professor at Providence College, and Strategic Co-Director of the Climate and Community Institute. Her research has been featured in essays in The New York Times, The Washington Post, N+1, and The Guardian. 

Related Episodes: The Complex Problems With Critical Minerals

Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to our newsletter/podcast, The Climate Weekly, to help support this show. Your contributions will make the continuation of this show possible. 

Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and more! Subscribe to our YouTube channel.