The first four of these five ¾ of an hour-long episodes look at the mining of different minerals needed for “Green Energy” and “Green” electronic devices and discuss the consequences of Capitalist extraction operations. The final episode looks the overall situation for U.S. attempts to try to meet Climate Change goals. Each episode includes this laudatory descriptor of the show “About: On Point is WBUR's award-winning, daily public radio show and podcast. Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world.”
These 5 episodes, in chronological order newest on top, are available at the podcast archive: On Point: From WBUR, at < https://www.npr.org/podcasts/
1). March 11, 2024
The lithium boom: What's holding back a lithium rush in the U.S.?
The U.S. sits on some of the largest lithium reserves in the world. It's a key element for clean energy. The start of On Point's weeklong exploration "Elements of energy" takes us inside America's push for a lithium boom. Duration of podcast 50:04
2). March 12, 2024
The copper tradeoff: Protecting today's lands versus preserving tomorrow's climate
Copper is key to our green energy future, but copper extraction is deeply harmful to the environment now. Episode two of On Point's special series "Elements of energy" explores how to resolve that contradiction. Duration of podcast 47:29
3). March 13, 2024
The human cost of cobalt: Modern slavery in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Most of the world's cobalt is extracted in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But to get it, hundreds of thousands of Congolese people labor with no other means to survive. On episode three of On Point's special series — cobalt and the human cost of mining. Duration of podcast 46:33
4). March 14, 2024
The promise of nickel: Power and prosperity in Indonesia
To electrify our economy, the world needs more nickel. And Indonesia has it. Can nickel pave the road to prosperity? In part four of "Elements of energy," hear how the rush for metals is shaking up global geopolitics. Duration of podcast 47:30
5). March 15, 2024
The goal: Can the U.S. actually meet its ambitious climate targets?
Given the environmental, political, and human costs of accelerating mineral mining, can the United States reach its clean energy goals? It's the final episode of our special series "Elements of energy." Duration of podcast 47:22
~~ recommended by dmorista ~~
Introduction by dmorista: The NPR On Point show has presented a pretty good series with discussions of the environmental and socio-economic consequences of the huge mining operations that will be needed to implement such a transition. The episode on Cobalt mining in the “Democratic Republic of Congo” does discuss the tyranical rule of Comprador Local rulers who collaborate with the major corporations from the developed countries (in this case all corporations owned by and based in China). They also included a short discussion of the history with the Belgians and the murder of Patrice Lumumba who, after being elected as president in the immediate post colonial period, tried to implement progressive social policies and control of the resources of the Congo to be used to benefit the population of the country. He was murdered by Belgian covert operatives in 1960, and replaced by the compliant thief Mobutu. Lumumbas murder occurred during the period between the electoral win of John F. Kennedy to the presidency but before he was inaugurated.
I have not yet listened to the episode on Indonesia and nickel. I will be interested to hear if they have afforded a similar treatment of the overthrow of Sukarno in 1965 (along with the murders of nearly 1 million Indonesians who were supporters of Sukarno) and his replacement with the equally compliant thief Suharto.
This 5-part series is a serious attempt to inform the non-technical public about the issues that surround the proposed solutions to the Fossil Fuel caused Climate Crisis.
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