Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism

Will green capitalism save us from the climate crisis? "Clean" technologies and renewable energy are certainly growing sites of capitalist investment, with government policies playing a key role in making these sectors profitable. But the supply chains that produce the technologies pose vexing dilemmas for the energy transition. These dilemmas are most dramatic at the extractive frontiers of green capitalism: where the natural resources needed to manufacture electric vehicles and build windmills are extracted. In this talk, we will unpack these challenges through the lens of lithium, a so-called "critical mineral" essential for its role in decarbonizing one of the most polluting sectors: transportation. With forecasters predicting an enormous surge in lithium demand exceeding existing supplies, Global North governments and downstream firms scramble to "secure" lithium, resulting in a new state-corporate alliance and the return of vertical integration. Meanwhile, environmental and Indigenous movements contest the rapid expansion of extraction, defending ecosystems, livelihoods, and waterways already under pressure from global warming from a new boom in mining. It is in the play of these forces, unfolding amidst geopolitical rivalry and economic turbulence, that the energy transition will be forged. To conclude, we will explore the possibility of a less mining-intensive pathway to zero carbon transportation.  

Keynote Speaker: Thea Riofrancos  

Thea Riofrancos is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College and an Andrew Carnegie Fellow (2020-2023). She is the author of Resource Radicals: From Petro-Nationalism to Post-Extractivism in Ecuador (Duke University Press, 2020) and the coauthor of Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal (Verso Books, 2019). She is currently writing Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism (W.W. Norton).

Heavy Metal: The Future of Minerals and Sustainable Societies is a graduate course cross-listed across four departments and disciplines: UBC School of Public Policy & Global Affairs, UBC Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, UBC Keevil Institute for Mining Engineering, and UBC Allard Law. The course received and is funded by the Killam Connections Award issued by the Faculty of Graduate Studies at UBC.