Mining our energy: What sacrifices are we willing to make?

from Idaho Matters · host Boise State Public Radio

Antonio Espinoza, a supervisor with the Gras Lawn landscaping company, uses a gasoline-powered leaf blower to clean up around a housing development in Brick, N.J. on June 18, 2024. New Jersey is one of many states either considering or already having banned gasoline-powered leaf blowers on environmental and health grounds, but the landscaping industry says the battery-powered devices favored by environmentalists and some governments are costlier and less effective than the ones they currently use. (Wayne Parry / AP)It’s a catch-22: if we want to get away from fossil fuels and use more green energy, then we need more critical minerals, like copper and lithium. These minerals, however, have to be dug up from mines, which can threaten natural ecosystems, holy sites, and even where we go camping in Idaho.Senior Reuters correspondent Ernest Scheyder has been asking the question, "What are the choices we're willing to make?” And that’s the focus of his new book, “The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives."He’s coming to Boise at the invitation of the James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research at the University of Idaho to talk about Idaho’s minerals and how they fit into this equation. He’ll sit down with leaders from Micron Technology, the Idaho National Laboratory, and the Nature Conservancy on Oct. 29.Ernest along with McClure Center Director Dr. Katherine Himes joined Idaho Matters to talk more.

What this episode covers

Antonio Espinoza, a supervisor with the Gras Lawn landscaping company, uses a gasoline-powered leaf blower to clean up around a housing development in Brick, N.J. on June 18, 2024. New Jersey is one of many states either considering or already having banned gasoline-powered leaf blowers on environmental and health grounds, but the landscaping industry says the battery-powered devices favored by environmentalists and some governments are costlier and less effective than the ones they currently use. (Wayne Parry / AP) It’s a catch-22: if we want to get away from fossil fuels and use more green energy, then we need more critical minerals, like copper and lithium. These minerals, however, have to be dug up from mines, which can threaten natural ecosystems, holy sites, and even where we go camping in Idaho. Senior Reuters correspondent Ernest Scheyder has been asking the question, "What are the choices we're willing to make?” And that’s the focus of his new book, “The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives." He’s coming to Boise at the invitation of the James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research at the University of Idaho to talk about Idaho’s minerals and how they fit into this equation. He’ll sit down with leaders from Micron Technology, the Idaho National Laboratory, and the Nature Conservancy on Oct. 29. Ernest along with McClure Center Director Dr. Katherine Himes joined Idaho Matters to talk more.