Jacobin Radio Dig: Extraction w/ Thea Riofrancos
Nov 14, 2025
Thea Riofrancos, a political scientist and author of "Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism," shares insights on the complex dynamics of lithium mining essential for green energy. She discusses the ecological destruction and community struggles in places like the Atacama Desert and the impacts of colonialism on resource extraction. The conversation explores the connection between mining and capitalism, the rise of anti-mining protests, and the global challenges in balancing climate action with local environmental concerns.
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Why Electrification Needs Lithium
- Renewable electricity is place-based and intermittent, so storage and transmission are essential to make it useful.
- Lithium batteries are the most efficient current storage technology enabling grid stability and electric mobility.
Mining Scale Required For Batteries
- Meeting battery demand will require hundreds of new mines, creating massive new extractive frontiers.
- Forecasts estimate about 400 new mines by 2035 for battery minerals alone, including ~70 for lithium.
How Chile Mines Lithium
- Chile's Atacama supplies roughly 20% of global lithium via brine evaporation ponds on salt flats.
- That liquid mining uses pumped lithium-rich brine and mega-evaporation ponds, reshaping a fragile poly-extreme ecosystem.
