October 22, 2024

Hi, friends, 

This is Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor writing you about our new book – the sixth we’ve written together. 

It’s said that you should love all your children equally – and we both definitely feel that about our amazing kids. But there’s no admonition about loving one book a lot more than the others – and for us, this is the one. 

Charging Forward: Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles, and a Just Future starts and ends in the Salton Sea region of Southern California, a place that has been considered an environmental disaster zone, a site of labor exploitation, and a problematic example of racial exclusion. One of the poorest counties in the Golden State, it is now a new center of political and economic attention – because it is sitting on enough lithium to electrify the entire US auto fleet and have 100 million batteries left over! 

 The method of extraction promises to be the cleanest and greenest on the planet, with minerals to be filtered from geothermal brines in a closed loop system, rather than from hard rock mining or large evaporation ponds. That’s exciting environmentalists as well as state official and corporations.  The place is being rechristened as “Lithium Valley”, with the hope that lithium extraction can be connected with battery manufacturing in a way that could transform the local economy.  

Meanwhile, frontline communities that have all too frequently been left behind and kept behind are worried about just how clean the process will be, labor is seeking assurances about good permanent employment, and public officials are trying to maximize benefits without scaring away investors. Basically, it’s all the issues of a “just transition” in one locale – and what happens in Lithium Valley will not stay in Lithium Valley. 

For that reason, the book telescopes from a broad consideration of the clean energy transition to an in-depth exploration of the 2023 strikes in the auto industry to a deep dive into the Salton Sea region and then a zoom out to national-level lessons for what we call “green justice.” And zoom is a good phrase: we are also working with two documentarians to make sure the story eventually jumps off the page and onto some screens. 

And the fact that documentarians are stepping in should tell you something: this is a good analysis but it’s also a great story and parable for our times.  

You can order the book at Amazon (or Powells or Barnes and Noble or wherever you buy books online), or you can use this link to choose a local bookstore near you. And we’re also hoping that you tell a friend or colleague about it. Or post about it on your favorite social media platform. Or write a review on one of the sites above or elsewhere.  

We will be giving talks about the book around the country and the schedule is listed and will be updated at our official website, https://www.chargingforwardbook.org/  If you want to get an early listen to the rap, we did a podcast discussion for the New Books Network (after all, it’s a new book) which is available here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/charging-forward 

We also have a sort of short version of the Imperial Valley part of the story here and here – but that and the Cliff’s Notes version (that surely dates us) podcast shouldn’t stop you from buying the book (it’s a great read!) and maybe even ordering it in bulk for events.  

Our publisher, The New Press, offers discounts of 40-60% when people or organizations buy 10 or more copies – and we can put you in contact with them or you can reach out directly to Joshua Zajdman. Books can be offered as a giveaway on a fundraising campaign, or used for trainings, meetings, conferences, and book clubs. Also, if you’re trying to work down your holiday gift list in one fell swoop, you could do worse . . . 😊 

Thanks for your work for sustainability, solidarity, and justice, 

Chris and Manuel.