Articles
Elon Musk Shows Us Why Individuals Can't Save the World
By Manuel Pastor
June 3, 2024
Common Dreams
"Live by public will, die by public will," is a mantra the faux libertarian techno billionaires should memorize. They are not our saviors, but rather obstacles to a better future for consumers and workers alike.
Op-eds
Opinion: Imperial County residents deserve to benefit from a potential lithium boom
By Manuel Pastor and Chris Benner
September 26, 2024
Los Angeles Times
“It’s understandable why the prospect of a new clean industry, a ‘white gold rush,’ would be appealing to residents. Capitalizing on the resource is not simple, however. If industry is allowed to drive the process completely, the result could be further economic and environmental exploitation. There’s a better way forward, though — an opportunity to ensure that residents directly benefit from the lithium extraction boom, while supporting the global shift to clean energy and ensuring that companies that invest in the Imperial Valley can turn a profit.
Features
Community Organizing and the Impact of Lithium in California
Inteview with Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor
September 25, 2023
The Rockefeller Foundation blog
Traditional economics says that equity is antithetical to prosperity but, in fact, equity is essential to prosperity.
Driving the Future? Green Justice and the Lithium Valley
By Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor
September 12, 2022
Nonprofit Quarterly
A political struggle is underway about what will happen in and around [California’s] Salton Sea—and it helps to reveal the tension between promoting long-term system transformation and the need to scale quickly in a world on fire.
Charging Forward
October 9, 2024
New Books Network podcast
Prof. Stephen Pimpare interviewed Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor on the questions raised by Lithium Valley and what’s at the heart of the “green transition.” Weaving together movement politics, federal policy, and autoworker struggles, they stressed that getting the lithium out from under the earth is just a first step: the real question is whether the region and the nation will get out from under the environmental degradation, labor exploitation, and racial injustice that have been as much a part of the landscape as the Salton Sea itself.
Related topics in research
Everyone is IV Equity: The Rise of One Community Power Group to Ensure Community Benefits from the Lithium Rush in Imperial Valley, California
By Austin Mendoza May 22, 2024 - USC ERI blog
This is the first installation in a series focusing on environmental and climate justice organizers and researchers. We hope to amplify the stories and circumstances of communities that have been and continue to experience environmental racism, particularly in California.
Powering Prosperity: Building an Inclusive Lithium Supply Chain in California’s Salton Sea Region
Co-authored by Chris Benner (Professor, UC Santa Cruz), Maggie Jones (Research Associate), Rebecca Lee (Managing Director, New Energy Nexus California), Priyanka Mohanty (Research and Policy Analyst, UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy), Margaret Slattery (PhD Candidate, UC Davis Energy and Efficiency Institute), and Carol Zabin (Senior Advisor, UC Berkeley Labor Center) with Vijay Dhar (Li Bridge Director, New Energy Nexus) and Carrie Hamilton (PhD Candidate, UC Santa Cruz).