(2/n) cont'd
When I happened across an article titled "We Don't Mine Enough Rare Earth Metals to Replace Fossil Fuels With Renewable Energy", my internal skeptic kicked in.
So of course, my first instinct was to look for more sources: other established experts whose professional opinions align. What do they mean, exactly, when they say "Rare Earth", and how are they applying it there?
Such research can take a person deep down the rabbit hole. Research into the legitimacy of opposing and differing views, however, is *always* worth it; a #SolarPunk attitude ought to be open to information from multiple angles, even if it's info that "interferes" with an established world view.
That metals, plastic, and even industrial waste are just about everywhere is a #fact of modern society as it exists today. One of the biggest problems with global industrialism is the built-in (but probably erroneous) assumption that everything should be scaled out to "production" quality and transported as far as it can be transported for limitless business growth.
That's a stupid assumption, obviously, because the greater the distance of transport, the more middlemen need to get involved. Like everything else involving supply-chains, it's the middlemen who tend to do the most damage.
BTW should I mention that while my employer* includes the best metallurgists on the planet, Ecosteader is an entirely non-affiliated side project I started before I was hired. All digital-based work I do here is for the public benefit (we are legally a B Corp). No income from this project has ever been collected.
* https://ecosteader.com/@indie/102833036289757289
More reading:
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/a3mavb/we-dont-mine-enough-rare-earth-metals-to-replace-fossil-fuels-with-renewable-energy
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/aug/07/china-rare-earth-village-pollution