Join Chris Benner for Charging Forward Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles, and a Just Future
Book Passage - Corte Madera Store
Sun., Nov. 10th, 2024 • 4:00pm PT
This event is free to attend and will be hosted in-person at Book Passage's Corte Madera Store. Please contact events@bookpassage.com with questions regarding events.
A clarion call for justice in the quest for clean energy
California's Salton Sea region is home to some of the worst environmental health conditions in the country. It is also ground zero for a new "lithium gold rush"--a race to extract a mineral critical to the rapidly expanding electric vehicle and renewable energy storage markets. With enough lithium lurking beneath the surface to provide a third of global demand, who will benefit from the development of this precious resource?
A work of stunning analysis and reporting, Charging Forward shows that the questions raised by Lithium Valley lie at the heart of the "green transition." Weaving together movement politics, federal policy, and global supply chains, noted experts Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor stress that extracting lithium is just a first step: the real question is whether the region and the nation will address and overcome the environmental degradation, labor exploitation, and racial injustice that have been as much a part of the landscape as the Salton Sea itself.
What happens in Lithium Valley, the authors argue, will not stay there. This tiny patch of California is a microcosm of the broad climate challenges we face; understanding Lithium Valley today is the key to grasping the future of our economy and our planet.
Dr. Chris Benner is the Dorothy E. Everett Chair in Global Information and Social Entrepreneurship, and a Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He currently directs the Everett Program for Technology and Social Change and the Institute for Social Transformation. His research examines the relationships between technological change, regional development, and the structure of economic opportunity, focusing on regional labor markets and the transformation of work and employment. His applied policy work centers on social and economic dimensions of technological change, workforce development policy, the structure, dynamics and evaluation of workforce intermediaries, and strategies for promoting regional equity. He has authored or co- authored over 100 academic papers and reports and eight books, including most recently Charging Forward: Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles and. Just Future (2024), with Manuel Pastor. He received his Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley.