The Moral Economy of Resource Extraction and the Future of Industrialization

The Moral Economy of Resource Extraction and the Future of Industrialization

From Business (Video) by UCTV

June 10, 2025 · 1h 20m

About this episode

Helen Thompson discusses the environmental and social impacts of transitioning from fossil fuels to metal extraction for energy.

The "energy transition" is actually a shift from relying on fossil fuels (like coal, oil, and gas) to using metals to generate energy. However, extracting metals has always been a significant environmental and political issue, especially for cities. This problem has been around for centuries, even ancient Roman writers wrote about it. In this program, Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge University, talks about the historic use of fossil fuels and its economic, social and environmental impacts to the transition today to extracting metals for energy, dominated by China. Thompson points out that extracting resources will always have environmental and social costs. To mitigate these risks, she says we need to find ways to reduce international competition and ecological damage. This requires acknowledging that the idea of endless progress, which was fueled by fossil fuels, has its limits. And she says we must prioritize sustainability and responsible resource management to create a better future. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 40428]

People in this episode

Guest: Helen Thompson

Topics covered

  • energy transition
  • resource extraction
  • industrialization
  • sustainability
  • political economy

Keywords

  • fossil fuels
  • metals
  • China
  • environmental costs
  • sustainable resource management

Mentioned in this episode

Places: China

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