Podcast: Promise, peril in push for electrical automobiles

President Biden needs 40% of latest automobiles to be electrical by 2030. As automakers race to fulfill demand, they’re setting off a mining rush worldwide from uncommon earth and important metals. Cobalt, lithium, manganese and nickel right here in the USA are laborious to return by, however exist in delicate habitats such because the ocean flooring and Indigenous land. Now, environmentalists and activists are questioning whether or not electrical automobiles are the wisest approach to sort out local weather change.

On this episode, we take you to the lithium mines of the western U.S. in Nevada, to the geothermal vents of California’s Salton Sea, and to the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Company: L.A. Instances coverage reporter Evan Halper

Extra studying:

California’s electrical automotive revolution, designed to save lots of the planet, additionally unleashes a toll on it

Column: I used to be going to purchase an all-electric automotive however chickened out. Right here’s why

Good luck getting a state rebate in your new electrical automotive