Book Club -The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology, and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth by Nicolas Niarchos

Note:   Registration opens one month in advance.

ABSTRACT

The Elements of Power tells the story of the war for the global supply of battery metals—essential for the decarbonization of our economies—and the terrible, bloody human cost of this badly misunderstood industry

Congo is rich. Swaths of the war-torn African country lack basic infrastructure and its people are officially among the poorest in the world. But hidden beneath the soil are vast quantities of cobalt, lithium, copper, tin, tantalum, tungsten, and other treasures that  have become extremely valuable because these metals are essential for the global “energy transition”—the plan for wealthy nations to shift from fossil fuels to sustainable forms of energy, such as solar and wind. China has a considerable head start in the race to electrify the world's economy. From Indonesia to South America to Central Africa, Beijing has invested in mines and infrastructure for decades. But the U.S. has begun fighting back with massive investments of its own, as well as sanctions and disruptive tariffs.

In this rush for green energy, the world has become utterly reliant on resources unearthed far away and willfully blind to the terrible political, environmental, and social consequences of their extraction. Children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo possesses  are routinely descending deep into treacherous mines to dig with the most rudimentary of tools, and  in some cases their bare hands. Indonesia’s seas and skies are being polluted in a rush for battery metals. Western Sahara, a source for phosphates, is still being treated like a colony. Who must pay the price for progress and why?

With unparalleled, original reporting, Nicolas Niarchos tells the story both of the people driving these tectonic changes and those whose lives are being upended. He reveals the true, devastating consequences of our best intentions and helps us prepare for an uncertain future. If you have ever used a smartphone or driven an electric vehicle, you are implicated.

About the Author

Nicolas Niarchos is a journalist whose work focuses on energy, war, and migration. His work has been published in The New Yorker, The Nation, and The New York Times. He has testified on the effects of Congolese battery metal mining on Capitol Hill. His work on mining in Indonesia was shortlisted for a 2024 Livingston Award. In 2023, he won an Edward R. Murrow Award for a radio report from Ukraine for The New Yorker and WNYC.