PBS Terra tells 'The Dirty Truth About Our Clean Energy Future'

I closed PBS Terra's Weathered asks 'Earth's Temperature Has Changed WILDLY, So What's the Big Deal About a Few Degrees?' with the following program note.

The video ends with a peek at solutions. PBS Terra has another video about how "there is no free lunch" when it comes to those. Stay tuned for that among all the awards show coverage.

It's time to tell The Dirty Truth About Our Clean Energy Future.

In order to develop clean energy technology, specific rare earth metals like cobalt and nickel need to be harvested. These often come at a steep human and environmental cost– but what if there was another way? Some propose sourcing these metals from the ocean floor or asteroids, but these solutions come with additional considerations and concerns.

This video works as a case study for all four of Commoner's Laws: Everything is connected to everything else, there is no away, there is no free lunch, and nature knows best. The transition to electric vehicles is already having effects around the globe and could affect the sea floor. That hasn't changed my mind about the importance of doing so. As I wrote in the final paragraph of The state of UAW negotiations for Labor Day 2023, "Anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time knows I'm in favor of electric vehicles. I drive a Prius, for starters." I closed that paragraph with "May people not suffer so that the planet and profit thrive." The same goes for exploiting one part of the planet to save the rest. As I tell my students, sustainability is a balancing act. May we not fall over.