The Climate Question - Mining: Can we learn lessons from the past?

Download Mining: Can we learn lessons from the past?

Lithium and copper are at the heart of the green energy transition, but what's the environmental cost of extraction?

From the lithium mines of Salar de Atacama in Chile to the historic copper mines of Butte Montana, author James Crawford has visited the extraordinary landscapes and mining operations powering the renewable energy transition.

Graihagh and Jordan chat to James Crawford about his new book Vanishing Earth, and the legacy of mining repair and restoration. Can we learn from the past to mine better in the future?

If you have a Climate Question you’d like answered, email: TheClimateQuestion@bbc.com

Hosts: Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar
Production team: Diane Richardson and Melanie Stewart-Smith
Sound engineers: Ricardo McCarthy and Tom Brignell
Editor: Simon Watts

Photo: Lithium ponds in Chile (courtesy James Crawford)

Published on Sunday, 18th October 2026.

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