So there's this sci-fi book I like. I know shocker right? The book is called The Peripheral by William Gibson and it's sort of complicated but it describes an idea called the jackpot.

Basically over several decades of extreme climate change and

other stuff like pandemics and war most of the human population dies. The ones who are left have the whole world to themselves, that's

the jackpot part. And one of the characters points out that after it's too late, they figure

out all the tech they need to keep the world going and clean it up.

Nanotechnology and carbon-eating molecules and all kinds of advanced robotics and things.

And this character is sad about it.

Like, what if we'd figured this out sooner, you know?

So what if we can?

What if we can start doing this now?

I'm Molly Wood. This is how we survive a podcast from Marketplace about how

finding solutions to the climate crisis is a messy business. This is episode 3, electrify everything.

We're focused this season on lithium, a soft light metal that everyone's chasing

as one big climate solution.

The lithium goes in batteries, batteries for electric cars and also batteries that will help power

a clean energy transition. And not for for nothing help us survive when the grid fails which it will do more and more as human cause global warming triggers catastrophic weather events.

But how might this solution actually work to help

us survive storms and floods and fires and cut carbon emissions in the process?

We'll start with a local idea that could transform cities like New Orleans, then look at how to

build this infrastructure nationally from entrepreneurs and policy makers, and we'll try to imagine

a world where our solutions don't come along too late.

This past summer Hurricane Ida tore through the Gulf Coast with 150 mile an hour

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