natural resources

Can Capitalism Exist Without Excess?

by Trevor Jackson

The pandemic supply chain disruptions have focused attention on shortages, but the problem of gluts—of food being destroyed when it can't be profitably sold–reflects a deeper problem with global capitalism. 

The Coles Family Land in Virginia Holds Incredible Uranium Wealth. Do Descendants of People Enslaved There Deserve a Share?

The uranium at Coles Hill is potentially worth billions of dollars. 

Critical Minerals and Geopolitical Competition

by Gregory Brew and Morgan Bazilian

Can developed nations decarbonize without exacerbating the geopolitics of resource extraction as demands for critical minerals conflicts with local labor, environmental, and human rights protection? 

Lithium, Cobalt, and Rare Earths: The Post-Petroleum Resource Race and What to Make of It

by Michael Klare

Renewable energy may close the door on the era of oil war, but it's imperative that industrial nations not allow a new global conflict over access to the materials needed to build a renewable energy infrastructure. 

Biden Administration Pauses Transfer of Holy Native American Land to Mining Firm

While tribes and environmental groups celebrated the Forest Service announcement, they noted the threat of losing Oak Flat remains.

How Wood Helped America Become Great – But Mislay its Sense of History

by Roland Ennos

Industrializing America's infrastructure was much more likely than Europe's to be made of wood. This accident of nature and geography helped drive rapid expansion, but today means much of the 19th century built environment of the United States has vanished.