Extraction. On the limits of green capitalism

Are we in the West facing a Faustian pact when it comes to the controversial issue of the energy transition? For many reasons, there is actually no alternative to switching to wind and solar power. But the insatiable hunger of "green capitalism" for raw materials is instead unleashing brutal global competition with a neo-colonial flavor. At the center: lithium, the "white gold" of our e-car batteries. From the lagoons of the Chilean Atacama Desert evaporating into nothingness to popular unrest in Serbia - the relentless exploitation of elementary resources is leaving deep scars in ecosystems and societies. American political scientist Thea Riofrancos from Providence College, co-director of the Climate Community Institute, travels the front lines of this new extraction policy. At the launch of her new non-fiction book "Extraction", she dissects the uncomfortable truth: simply switching fuels is simply not enough. If we only change the fuel but retain the logic of exploitation itself, saving the ecology of ecology and climate will remain an illusion. Riofrancos argues for more intelligent concepts beyond motorized private transport and shows what a real turnaround could look like without the destructive hunger for resources. We discuss with the US professor what the side effects of our hope for a clean future really are.