Inside Out: A Conversation

JFI convened a live Twitter conversation between experts and advocates in renewable energy, economics, geology, indigenous rights, land rights, and related issues. The Twitter chat hosted Francis alongside Thea Riofrancos, Daniel Aldana Cohen, Professor Julie Klinger, Ingrid Burrington, Frederico Freitas, Kathryn Goodenough, Jamie Kneen with Rabble Canada and Mining Watch.

Rural and urban areas alike suffer from the toxic effects of extraction, though extractive sources of pollution can be less visible in urban contexts. In both cases, harm is structured by class and race. The flipside is that shared harm can be basis for solidarity and coalitions.

—Thea Riofrancos

Ideally the conversation would move away from resource depletion, which really isn’t the issue, to consider how we will extract these metals in an efficient way that minimizes damages to the environment and society – and indeed, maximizes benefit to communities.

—Kathryn Goodenough

We have to focus on the geographies of mining from multiple angles. We can’t treat the mines as snowglobes and only look for pollution there. Nor can we treat cities as snowglobes, and only look for pollution there. We need a planetary approach.

—Daniel Aldana Cohen

View the archived conversation here.