Extraction.The Frontiers of Green Capitalism

Book Presentation & Conversation with Thea Riofrancos, Providence College

Are we in the West facing a Faustian bargain when it comes to the contentious issue of the energy transition? The shift to wind and solar power is, in fact, the only viable option for many reasons. Yet the insatiable hunger of “green capitalism” for raw materials is instead unleashing a brutal global competition with neocolonial overtones. At the center of it all: lithium, the “white gold” of our electric car batteries. From the lagoons of Chile’s Atacama Desert evaporating into nothingness to civil unrest in Serbia—the relentless exploitation of basic resources is leaving deep scars on ecosystems and societies. American political scientist Thea Riofrancos of Providence College, co-director of the Climate Community Institute, travels to the front lines of this new extraction policy. At the launch of her new non-fiction book “Extraction,” she dissects the uncomfortable truth: a mere shift in propulsion simply falls short. If we only swap out the fuel but retain the logic of exploitation itself, saving the environment and the climate remains an illusion. Riofrancos advocates for smarter concepts beyond motorized private transportation and illustrates what a genuine transition might look like without the destructive hunger for resources. We discuss with the U.S. professor what the real side effects of our hope for a clean future truly are.