Books
The War Below
Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives
Ernest Scheyder | 2024
To build electric vehicles, solar panels, cell phones, and millions of other devices means the world must dig more mines to extract lithium, copper, and other vital building blocks. But mines are deeply unpopular, even as they have a role to play in fighting climate change and powering crucial technologies. These tensions have sparked a worldwide reckoning over the sourcing of necessary materials, and no one understands the complexities of these issues better than Ernest Scheyder.
The War Below reveals the explosive brawl among industry titans, conservationists, community groups, policymakers, and many others over whether the habitats of rare plants, sensitive ecosystems, Indigenous holy sites, and other places should be dug up for their riches.
With accessible and “illuminating” (Chris Miller, author of Chip War) writing, Scheyder shows the human toll of this war and explains why recycling and other newer technologies have struggled to gain widespread use. He also expertly chronicles Washington’s attempts to wean itself off supplies from China, the global leader in mineral production and processing. The War Below paints a powerfully honest and nuanced picture of what is at stake in this new fight for energy independence, revealing how America and the rest of the world’s hunt for the “new oil” directly affects us all.
Book Reviews
Mr. Scheyder, a journalist, travels from Arizona to Minnesota, from Nevada to Idaho, from Washington, D.C., to Bolivia to document the views of those who are for or against mining. He’s sympathetic to the cultural, historical, aesthetic and environmental constraints that are unavoidable and often intractable when mining is at stake. He focuses on the social and political dynamics that accompany big mining projects because, as he writes, there’s “no way around the fact that mines are gargantuan creations that maim the Earth’s surface.” He makes clear that his goal isn’t to question the need for more mines but to understand “whether these lands should be dug up in an attempt to defuse climate change,” especially when some lands are considered sacred by their neighbors and inhabitants.
– Mark P. Mills, The Wall Street Journal
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About the Author
Ernest Scheyder is a senior correspondent for Reuters covering the green energy transition and the minerals that power it.
Energy Transition Bookshelf
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