Unearthed: The Mining Issue
Unearthed: The Mining Issue
Recent
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![A woman carries a sign that says]()
![A woman carries a sign that says]()
The US and Canada have long managed the Great Lakes together. That era could be ending.
Political tensions are threatening the future of the largest freshwater ecosystem on Earth.
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![A woman sits on the ground with a baby in front of her. They are wearing large hats, and the baby holds a cardboard sign reading]()
![A woman sits on the ground with a baby in front of her. They are wearing large hats, and the baby holds a cardboard sign reading]()
The world’s biggest youth climate lawsuit lost in court, but it ‘changed the world’
The landmark Juliana v. United States sparked a global movement to defend children's rights to a healthy climate, a campaign that's already scored two wins.
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Renewables surged in 2024 — but so did fossil fuels
A new report finds that while electricity demand skyrocketed, the deployment of new wind, solar, and nuclear power did, too.
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![A man poses for a photo while standing in a large field with sparse vegetation]()
![A man poses for a photo while standing in a large field with sparse vegetation]()
Chile’s lithium boom promises jobs and money — but threatens a critical water source
The Atacama Desert is a major source of lithium for EV batteries. As global demand ramps up, the local Lickanantay people are racing to protect already scarce water supplies and their way of life.
Topics
Grist reports on topics like Politics, Energy, Equity, Solutions, and how they intersect with climate. All topics.
Extreme Weather
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Utilities are shutting off power to a growing number of households
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‘It’s all been scrapped’: Bootcamps for women in wildland firefighting canceled after DEI cuts
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US Forest Service firings decimate already understaffed agency: ‘It’s catastrophic’
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How the Eaton Fire destroyed a delicate truce over Altadena’s future
Indigenous Affairs
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Alaska Natives want the US military to clean up its toxic waste
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A $250M investment will help this lithium mine get up and running. That’s bad news for these tribes.
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In Canada, Indigenous advocates argue that mining companies violate the rights of nature
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‘Like a virus’: Corruption has infected the fight against climate change
Staff Picks
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Expecting worse: Giving birth on a planet in crisis
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![Oil pump jacks at the Elk Hills oil field in Kern County, California.]()
Inside a California oil town’s divisive plan to survive the energy transition
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![Collage featuring warehouse worker carrying cardboard box off-gassing ethylene oxide]()
An invisible chemical is poisoning thousands of unsuspecting warehouse workers
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![Collage of farmworkers carrying produce, snippets of a dollar bill, and tomatoes — all centered around an empty dinner plate]()
The people who feed America are going hungry
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![illustration in the style of WPA posters of 3 electricians with electric bolts above them; a heat pump and solar panels in the background]()
To get off fossil fuels, America is going to need a lot more electricians
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![Senator Debbie Stabenow speaks with an aide before a committee meeting]()
The Senate’s new farm bill would prioritize the climate. Too bad it’s basically doomed.
More climate fiction
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![A snowy village near a fjord]()
![A snowy village near a fjord]()
Beneath Greenland’s ice lies a climate solution — and a new geopolitical battleground
Modern society, and the clean energy revolution, depend on rare earth elements. Can Greenland help break China's stranglehold on the market?
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![The sun sets on the mining vessel ‘Hidden Gem’]()
![The sun sets on the mining vessel ‘Hidden Gem’]()
Digging for minerals in the Pacific’s graveyard: The $20 trillion fight over who controls the seabed
“The soul of our ancestors, when they leave this world, they go into the deep.”
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![A pile of electronics in a warehouse with a sign indoors that says 'redwood materials']()
![A pile of electronics in a warehouse with a sign indoors that says 'redwood materials']()
Mining is an environmental and human rights nightmare. Battery recycling can ease that.
Recycling provides economic, national security, and environmental benefits. But the United States is playing catch-up to Asian countries, particularly China.
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![A woman in traditional Indigenous clothing holds her fist aloft during a protest]()
![A woman in traditional Indigenous clothing holds her fist aloft during a protest]()
Most critical minerals are on Indigenous lands. Will miners respect tribal sovereignty?
Grist spoke with five experts to understand what free, prior, and informed consent should look like in this new era of extraction.
Watch This
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An early-life wildfire exposure sickened these monkeys for decades
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The Gulf Coast is home to one of the last healthy coral reefs. It’s surrounded by oil.
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Nature can’t run without parasites. What happens when they start to disappear?
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How efforts to protect an Indigenous oasis almost led to its demise
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![A row of test tubes with snippets of seaweed inside]()
![A row of test tubes with snippets of seaweed inside]()
The weirdest ways scientists are mining for critical minerals, from water to weeds
Not all critical minerals need to come from digging up the earth.
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In the race to find critical minerals, there’s a ‘gold mine’ literally at our shoreline
Instead of continuing to dig tunnels or pits, some scientists are looking to a promising — but challenging — source of minerals: seawater.
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![A man walks in front of the USDA building in Washington]()
![A man walks in front of the USDA building in Washington]()
Farmers are reeling from Trump’s attacks on agricultural research
A "rollercoaster" of funding cuts and layoffs have gutted critical agricultural research projects across the nation.
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![The skyline of lower Manhattan is seen in the distance, the World Trade Center glinting in the sunlight, with water and a bridge on which a person is walking in the foreground]()
![The skyline of lower Manhattan is seen in the distance, the World Trade Center glinting in the sunlight, with water and a bridge on which a person is walking in the foreground]()
Can cities ban natural gas in new buildings? A federal judge just said yes.
After a string of discouraging rulings for other cities, a court upheld NYC's efforts to decarbonize its buildings.
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