7. How mining for clean energy is sparking opposition — a conversation with Thea Riofrancos

How do we reconcile the need to move away from fossil fuels with the need for new mines to build clean energy technologies?Thea Riofrancos, Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College, explores this dilemma in her new book Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism.The book focuses on lithium — the metal at the heart of batteries for electric vehicles. Traveling through Chile, Nevada, and Portugal, Riofrancos meets with activists and residents to investigate what she calls “green extractivism.”She argues that these “extractive frontiers” form the material foundation of a zero-carbon world. But they also warn us against “the temptations of technical fixes, escape-from-nature fantasies, or a purely post-extractive society.”Riofrancos shows how proposed and existing lithium mines create conflicts with local communities and threaten cultural and historical roots. As she writes: “The energy transition is not a peaceful bridge between fossil fuels and renewable energy, but a crucible where past, present, and possible futures collide.”These conflicts raise fundamental questions about justice in the energy transition and risk splitting the environmental movement. “Ultimately, anti-extractive activists are forcing us to address an uncomfortable, but necessary question: What does it mean to defend people and the planet from extraction — when others frame this same extraction as necessary to save people and the planet?”She also points to a potential solution: fixing demand. Do we really need to electrify oversized vehicles like Hummers, or can we drive smaller cars and invest in public transport? After all, future mining depends on how much we choose to consume.In our conversation, we explored these tensions — and what they mean for the future of the energy transition.