The Rare Metals War: The Dark Side of Clean Energy and Digital Technologies

French investigative journalist Pitron exposes the dirty underpinnings of clean technologies in a debut that raises valid questions about energy extraction but suffers from clumsy execution. Rare metals enable less polluting technologies, Pitron explains, but mining them can be even more harmful to the environment than the mining required to obtain other minerals. As most developed countries have tightened environmental standards, China has taken charge of rare-metal extraction and production, thus supplying the raw materials for the clean-energy and digital revolutions. As such, he concludes, “instead of addressing the challenge of humanity’s impact on ecosystems, we are displacing it” to metal-rich nations such as China, Bolivia, and the Congo. Pitron’s arguments, though, culminate in a dubious screed, calling for the return of mines to the West because, he insists with no evidence, once faced with the resultant environmental degradations, rather than “live like the Chinese,” Western societies would protest en masse and “demand that billions be spent on research into making rare metals fully recyclable.” Nonetheless, green advocates who have put their faith in clean energy may find Pitron’s reporting on this technology’s environmental downside to be valuable, even if his conclusion leaves much to be desired. (Oct.)