Should We Mine the Deep-Sea?

How to Save a Planet

Gimlet

Science, News, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2022

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the coming years, we'll need millions of batteries: batteries to store renewable electricity and power a massive fleet of electric vehicles. But those batteries will require certain metals, and those metals have to be mined. And the mining industry can be a mess, sometimes associated with deforestation, child labor, and deadly floods of toxic waste. Is there a better way? Today we journey to the bottom of the ocean to find out. Along the way, we discover a massive government conspiracy and meet an adorable octopus. Calls to Action: Keep up to date on deep-sea mining news with the Deep-Sea Mining Observer. Learn more about calls for a moratorium on deep-sea mining with the Deep-Sea Mining Science Statement. Check out the Ocean Forum's Ocean Justice Platform (shout-out to our former co-host, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Odyssey of a Planet, I'm Alex Bloomberg, and this is the show where we talk about
0:08.2	what we need to do to address climate change and how to make those things happen.
0:15.9	Hello, everyone.
0:25.7	Today on the show, we're going to be talking about what is in some ways a giant global treasure
0:31.4	hunt.
0:32.4	Treasure hunt that could play a big role in getting us to a zero carbon world, but that
0:36.5	could also come at a steep price.
0:39.0	And here to tell us about this high stakes treasure hunt is how to save a planet producer
0:43.4	Daniel Ackerman.
0:44.4	Hey, Dan.
0:45.4	Hey, Alex.
0:46.4	So first things first, have you seen this treasure?
0:49.6	I just want to note up top that treasure is your word.
0:52.1	Alex, not mine.
0:53.2	Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Fancy Pan science journalist.
0:56.6	You don't want to buy into my table metaphor, but seriously, have you seen it?
1:01.6	Yes, I have seen it at least on Zoom.
1:04.7	So I was interviewing a scientist named Dr. Andrew Failer, and I asked him to describe
1:10.1	a piece of this treasure for me.
1:11.8	Hold on a second.
1:12.8	So don't tell me you have one.
1:15.8	Andrew walked off screen for a second, and when he reappeared, he was holding what looked
	...

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