Unearthed: Critical Minerals

 
 
 

Giant Squids and Energy Scars

Introducing Unearthed: periodic essays on the cost of critical mineral extraction and transitioning energy landscapes in North America. Like suction marks on whale skin, we are forced to infer the dimensions of climate change and the energy system through scars. Each essay investigates the shadowy material world that powers our civilization through the markings it leaves behind.

 

Rivers of Blood

Rusting waterways, acid electrification, CIA coups in Chile, and bleeding gods. An essay about mining nickel and copper to decarbonize energy systems and the corrosion of freshwater across the Earth.