Within not too many years, the need to fill a gas tank to make a car move might seem as old

fashioned as stoking a wood fire to power the stove. The future we keep hearing is all electric and mostly

renewable. But as we get growing shares of our energy from sources like wind and solar,

transmission lines to move that voltage and batteries to store it until it's needed will require

vast amounts of metals that are not necessarily easy to find, recover, or refine. As we move

away from Drill Baby Drill, do we fully understand the implications of Dig Baby Dig? From KERA in Dallas,

this is thanks. I'm Chris Boyd. There's already a competition to control the world's supply of

the metals we've all heard of, copper and nickel and lithium. And's already a competition to control the world's supply of the metals we've all

heard of, copper and nickel and lithium. And there is a race on for countries to source

adequate supplies of rare earth substances that are less familiar to many of us, but absolutely

essential to the batteries that power everything from our digital devices to our appliances, to our

cars.

The transition almost certainly will reduce the production of greenhouse gases, but as my

guest will explain, that doesn't mean there won't be new environmental and geopolitical hazards.

Vince Beiser is a journalist and author of the new book Power Medal, the race for the resources

that will shape the future.

Vince, welcome to think.

Thanks. Thanks for having me here.

You were an early adopter of an all-electric car.

You bought one in 2018.

And as a guy who cares about the planet, you felt really good.

But then the journalist in you could not leave well enough alone,

...