Episode 8 - Your Battery Didn’t Magically Appear, Sorry

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The road to a greener future doesn’t start at the charging station—it starts at the mine. We take a clear‑eyed look at electric vehicles and the larger idea of “clean energy,” asking how we measure it, who gets to define it, and who shoulders the burdens that rarely make headlines. Without dunking on EVs or cheerleading them, we map the full life cycle—from lithium, cobalt, and nickel extraction to manufacturing, use, and end‑of‑life—and explore why a technology can reduce tailpipe emissions while still causing harm elsewhere.

Along the way, we examine how narratives are built. Governments, companies, and media push compelling buzzwords that shape public trust, often faster than evidence can catch up. We bring forward an indigenous perspective to spotlight communities living near battery mineral operations, where water stress, soil damage, and ecosystem disruption are not abstract risks but daily realities. When environmental harm is distant, it’s easy to ignore; when it touches land we love, we call it urgent. Bridging that gap requires a just transition that measures what matters: life‑cycle emissions, water and biodiversity impacts, labor conditions, and real consent from affected communities.

This conversation is about trade‑offs, accountability, and smarter design. We talk responsible sourcing, better metrics, and how new chemistries, closed‑loop recycling, and second‑life uses can cut the footprint of energy storage. We also explore “leapfrogging” models that let emerging regions skip dirty steps and build distributed renewables and cleaner mobility systems tailored to local needs. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s honesty. If we ask stronger questions about benefits and costs, we make better choices about where EVs fit, where transit beats cars, and how to ensure the energy transition includes everyone it touches.

Mundo Mondays

Transcript

Framing Clean Energy And EV Hype

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Electric vehicles are often described as the future of clean energy. Lower emissions, less dependency on fossil fuels, a greener planet. And honestly, on the surface, it sounds like a good progress. But recently, and for some time, I've been asking the question: when we say something is clean energy, what exactly are we measuring? Because before an electric vehicle ever reaches the road, there's a much longer story that begins somewhere. A story that often starts with mining the materials needed for those batteries. Things like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. And sometimes those mines are located near indigenous lands or communities that rely that rarely show up in the headlines when we talk about EV revolution. So today I want to explore the question that I don't think we ask enough. When we imagine a green future, whose future are we actually imagining? Now I'm a now I'm not here to say it should electrical vehicles are good or bad, but I do think it's worth slowing down and asking where we see the this going. Understanding the big picture and who actually benefits. So today let's take a look at the hidden side of clean energy. So here's a disclaimer. I mean, this is my perspective through my lens, through my education, through the way I see the world. And sometimes in class, I've asked myself a lot of these questions that seems to go against mainstream audiences. And usually I'm the one that's asking these hard questions. And usually when I ask these questions, people look at me with a blank look on their face, like they don't know what I'm talking about. So that's what today's episode is about. I want the audience, you guys, the listeners, the supporters, to kind of get a little deeper critical analysis, a critical thinking about the EV evolution. Again, I'm not speaking for everyone, as a disclaimer, this is my perspective and I would like to share it with you guys. So let's begin. So EVs are widely viewed as environmental environmentally friendly. This is the solution for the future. Governments, media, and companies promote them very, very heavily. However, my perspective is a unique perspective. And usually that's that's where I'm trying to get from. So here's where we go. When we say something is clean energy, what are we actually measuring? Now remember, when I'm asking these questions, I'm asking it with you guys, and but it's kind of meant as a conversational piece. So again, let's say this when we say something is green clean energy, what are we actually measuring? Well, for me, I like to say that whatever we put into our energy efforts is not gonna be polluting our our earth, our home, our lands, our countries, you know, this planet. So when I think of green energy, clean energy, I would like to say that it's something that is abundant, that we use, and as a byproduct, as something that's you know, when we're done with it, it's gonna be biodegradable or it's gonna be zero footprint. But in reality, how truth is that? How truthful is that? Because even we can even claim other clean energies are not really that clean. So, what am I trying to get at? Clean energy, we need to define that a little bit further because I think a lot of people when we say clean energy, we jump on board and say, Yes, that's what I want, that's what I want my heart my home to be, that's what my my vehicle to be. But there's a longer story, and we'll get into that. So, who gets to define what clean energy means? That's a really interesting question. We can talk about different social media influencers, the media, the government, the leaders. And we can we can actually try to jump on board with what they're selling us, and it's usually with the people who had money that can express these type of things. For instance, you know, like this podcast, and I can say, well, you know, this podcast is a hundred percent on its own, but then you know, somewhere down the road, I would like to have like sponsorships or even you know commercials to how actually you know put some money into this, so I can say I'm giving you guys better quality in the equipment, in the computer, in the type of resource I use to make it better. And what am I trying to get with this? Well, like sponsorships are like kind of like the people of leaderships influencers, you know, they get some kind of power to explain what this is. So, you know, how do they define what clean energy means? So we have to understand that when people tell us something, we have to be critically thinking about this point is like who are the people that are telling us that this is clean energy? And do they know what clean energy is? Maybe they do, maybe they don't. But also it's up to us to understand what that actually means as well. Get different resources, understand that topic. So, next question. Are we asking enough questions about systems behind these technologies? I would say no. I think a lot of times we're, as I mentioned in previous episodes, I think we're a reactive society and we're not proactive. And that's just my perspective. Again, I don't think we ask enough questions because I see on the news, you know, a lot of things that could be preventive, being we're not being proactive. And when it comes to green, clean energy, I don't think we're asking enough questions. As you know, a student, I hear some of the conversations, and I ask myself, these are not the right questions. And part of that is that there's not inf enough information out there to have everyone on board, and that's kind of the issue that we're not really educated on that point of understanding these things. And I'm not saying that we're stupid, I'm not saying that you guys are not educated, I'm just saying that we should put a little more effort into understanding these ideas before we run with them, and before you put stock into anyone that tells you otherwise. And again, I should be very clear. I'm not attacking EVs. No, I think in theory, they're a good idea, and I'm just explaining the systems behind them and what I see and how I look at it. Now, this next section, the promise of electric vehicles. You know, they're supposed to reduce tailpipe emissions. That's the main idea. And they're supposed to remove us on less dependency on oil. And the innovation on climate urgency is also important. But then there's also why people support EV so strongly. Do they have an interest in the stock? Do they actually care about the environment? Do they actually know what type of profits they're getting from this? Now, a lot of you are gonna say, Well, you kind of mentioned it earlier about indigenous lands, and I'm getting to that. Trust me, I'm getting to that point. But I'm trying to frame out the idea and have a critical discussion with some of these ideas. So, critical questions in this section. Why is the idea of EV so easy for people to support? I think because we hear clean or the word green, clean energy, green energy, and we just I think it was a good marketing campaign for whoever came up with it. Because when we hear these buzzwords, we jump to that and say, Yes, this is what I'm about. This is exactly where I want to see myself as being consciously environmentally conscious about you know the changing environment around us, but I don't think we actually see the bigger picture, and I think many times we don't want to know the bigger picture. So it brings us to the next question. Do we understand the technology fully or do we trust the meaning the messaging around it? And like I just said, I don't think we understand the technology fully, and I think we just kind of just reactively trust it because the word green and clean are buzzwords that we just associate as saying, yes, that's true. Again, I have to say, this is my perspective. I know some people are gonna jump on board and say, no, no, no, that's not right. And again, this podcast is about explaining an indigenous perspective, how I see the world kind of changing in a way, and I don't think there's enough voices to express these ideas, because as I said in the very first podcast, my voice represents in the United States, I'm a tribal American Indian, a Native American, an indigenous person, and out of the United States, that's 1% of the population, but within that population it's even smaller, and a lot of times our voices are not heard. So that's what I'm trying to get at. Again, I'm not attacking anyone, I'm just putting this information out there so for people to kind of think about these types of questions, these types of situations. Next question. Does technological progress always equal environmental progress? Again, let me say that again. Does techno technological progress always equal environmental progress? That is up to debate, and that's pretty much up to different perspectives. Because if you belong in a certain okay, I see what what's happening. See, I'm trying to dance around the subject, and I think you guys want me to answer that question. So give me one minute. Does technol technological progress always equal environmental progress? I'm gonna say no. Because technology can be seen as good and bad, but you know, environ environmental progress, I think there's been success in a lot of times, but there's not enough. So I'm gonna have to say no that technologically it hasn't always equal out to the best thing because it's just like policy. We put a band-aid on a solution, and it's a band-aid, it's not a permanent solution. So that's my thinking behind that. So basically the story with with the electrical vehicle starting from the beginning and then ending on the roadway has rarely been talked about, and that's what this next section is about. Battery production. So I had some time to do some research while I was looking at these conversations in class, the EVs and how good they are, and discussing how these would be great for you know express lanes and in incentives for people to buy these types of cars. And I did do some research many years previously about clean energy and understanding not all clean energy is actually clean. So that's what kind of prompted me to kind of do a little more digging and understanding. So EV batteries rely on materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Now, these materials are mined before the car exists, right? You know, obviously, you know, you need the battery, and these types of mining has significant environmental consequences that a lot of people don't talk about. So, where do EV batteries actually come from? That's an interesting question that I would like you guys to explore because I could tell you, but it's easier for you to actually engage because unlike other social media people out there, leaders, I want you guys to actually look at things, to actually ask these questions and actually do the research. I would tell you that a lot of these batteries come from South America near indigenous communities, and a lot of times that story is not mentioned. It's the same thing with colon colon let's try this again with colonization, color colonization in the new world, in this hemisphere, was about supplies and what you could get out of it and the exploitations behind it, and a lot of times a lot of the minerals that were being extracted were for not in the benefit of the indigenous people. And in this case, in these communities, I I have to stress that you guys have to do your research because once you read and once you find this, it will lead you down a rabbit hole. And the more you want to read, the more you want to be engaged. See, what I'm doing is just opening that that curtain, your eyelids, your subject blinders, and that's what I'm trying to do right here. And I want you to understand that. So, what environmental costs exist before the vehicle is even built. You know, mining for these for a lot of these things, people don't realize that you know, when you think about environmental costs, you know, you imagine you imagine that there's no cost, that it just a battery exists and it's gonna help save the planet, but we don't think about that extra part of it. Some of the mining in some of these communities do pollute the land and the water in some of these indigenous communities, and so at that point, I have to ask yourself the environmental costs versus the social benefits. So, again, this is a voice from the other side of the aisle that you rarely hear hear about. So, why are we focusing on the end product instead of the full life cycle? And it's that's a that's the question that a lot of media and you know a lot of things focus on. Because we focus on again the problem, we focus on the reactive situation. We don't understand we don't want to be proactive, we don't want to see the whole life span of things, and a lot of times when you're trying to solve a problem, it's best to get to the root of the problem, understanding the whole progress, because you can't just put a band-aid on a branch and say it's fixed. I mean you can fix it, but to get to this to the actual root of a problem, to understand where that's coming from, we put a different concept of that. And I can see that I'm going a little bit off topic, which I wasn't trying to do, and I'm not trying to be political, but I'm just trying to have you guys be a little more objective and seeing it from that lens. So, indigenous communities and the environmental impacts. So, some of the mining that occurs near indigenous communities worldwide, and it's not just South America, but it's also in other communities around the world. The impacts include water contamination, as I mentioned, soil damage, and ecosystems just are disrupted, obviously. So, in these communities, sometimes have little voice in the decision because their daily wages are very below the national what is it, minimum wage. And some of these people are come from poor indigenous communities, and that's one of the reasons why we don't hear about it. Same thing goes for other luxury items that are you know from other places that we don't hear about that, and we don't want to hear about that, which is strange because there's a voice, and I I will talk about this in another in a future episode, but we I think we tend to look the other way and say, yes, this is environmentally friendly, but we don't want to see how it's made, we don't want to see Santa Claus building the toys, per se. And I hate to say in that concept because other people are gonna start saying, Well, you're just showing the idea of Christmas. I'm just trying to paint a picture, guys. I'm just trying to paint a picture and have you guys see it from that idea. So the next critical questions. What does green energy mean if environmental damage happens somewhere else? Yeah. What does green energy mean if environmental damage happens somewhere else? I say it's not really green energy. That's that's my idea. That's that's my concept. Because yeah, if you're not really being environmentally conscious about the whole process, you're kind of being hypocritical about saying it's green energy. So again, I don't want to be political, I don't want to stip anyone's toes. If you're a part of the green movement or part of these companies, I apologize. I'm just explaining my perspective. Next question: why don't we hear more about these communities in the Eevee conversation? And as I mentioned before, our voices are very few. And who are you gonna listen to? Someone that is dressed in a suit and tie and comes from a certain family and a certain prestigious school and can articulate all the words compared to someone who's just trying to survive, who's trying to go from day to day, who may not have a full educational spectrum to articulate words, to express their feelings, to see their concerns. You have to look at it from both sides. You really do. And I I just want to paint that picture for you guys right now. Really, think about that picture. I'm not I'm not saying indigenous communities are poor or bad people or they're uneducated, because there are some really smart indigenous people, there are smart tribal people, there are wealthy individuals in these communities as well, and they do speak up, they do talk about it. But when you deal with mainstream society, mainstream audiences, mainstream media, our voices get lost because we talk about something and it seems preachy. Just like right now, I'm bordering the line right now of being preachy, and I'm not. I'm just answering the question why don't we hear more about these communities in the Eevee conversation? I'm just trying to answer that question. So if environmental harm is so far away from us, do we notice it less? I think again that goes back to be proactive and reactive. When the damage becomes more evident, and I'm I know this is not gonna happen, where some indigenous communities are start gonna start speaking about it, and then a whole change will be formed about how we see EVs. That's not gonna happen. I can tell you that. I don't know what the translation is, then we start talking about and we start questioning about it before we say, Oh yeah, it's an environmentally harm to us, and then we bring in that conversation. So again, land is not just a resource, it's a relationship, you know, from that indigenous perspective. You know, we are tied to the land, all of us, and not just from me, but also you guys. You guys are part of a land system, you guys are part of a community, and that is on land that people need to understand that we're the relationship with nature and man comes together. The earth is a living being. Sad to say that people don't understand that concept, but that's the truth. Again, people are gonna say you're gonna be getting preachy, so let me take a step back. Let's look at the last part. Looking beyond the surface. So EVs still play a role in reducing emissions. That's true. I'm not even gonna argue with that because that is true. But every technology it does has its trade-offs, and in this case, I just told you how it affects indigenous communities. So understand these trade-offs lead to a better conversation. And that's all I'm trying to do. Just have you guys kind of think about these things critically and ask critical questions and ask like this next question Are we willing to examine both the benefits and the costs of a new technology? Let's let's change that slightly. Are we willing to examine both the benefits and costs to new technologies? Let's make it plural, new technologies. For me, I would like to examine you know the benefits and costs because that's how it affects me. I usually look at something and I do research. Like for when people were talking about hydrogen cars, I said to myself, that sounds like an interesting concept. Then I start digging deeper and I start researching it and I start coming off a lot of different things. I'm not gonna get into that into this episode because that's a whole different episode. And probably I won't even touch that one because this is kind of closest I want to get to that type of thing. But if you guys have a different way, then you guys can just say Cameron, you should talk about that. But we'll wait for that. So next question. What does it truly what does a truly sustainable energy transition look like? I would like to bring up a concept that people rare rarely hear leapfrog. Leapfrog is a term that is used in a way to describe, let's just say, a third world, I guess a third world country, people, and jump in ahead to a first world solution. For instance, the best type of uh example I can say is like there was no banks in Africa in some of these places, and then suddenly there's mobile banking, and there's ways to actually bank, so there's no need for a brick and mortar bank to exist because people are using mobile banking, so it's skipping over that brick and mortar stage and going directly digital. So from having no banks to going digital, that's what I mean by leapfrog, and I think that is a way to truly look at a sustainable energy transition, and that's what it'll look like. I I honest believe that if third world countries band together, looked at it from that lens, and say, look, we have a better solution, and we're gonna leapfrog into that green solution faster, then first world nations, or what you guys call first world nations, will take a deeper look at some of these technologies and really make it sustainable. I think it would take that type of seismic shift to happen for people to understand, you know, global climate warming disasters. Try to put it in terms where people won't be politically sensitive to these ideas, but honestly, I think it would take a seismic shift for that for a sustainable energy transition to look like a third world country, third world countries would have to leapfrog to a new technology that is so superior that it makes in nuclear energy, oil and gas, when hydrogen, it would just surpass all of these things and say, look, this is the better way. And then people would say, Wow, you know, these these countries are way beyond us, and it will kind of look like a scene from the you know, like the Wokanda in the Marvel movies, and you would just assume that these primitive people are just primitive, but they actually are technologically advanced for it to be noticed. Again, I don't want to get into the spoilers of movies and stuff like that, but that's the way I kind of think about these types of seismic shifts and sustainable energy. So let's get to the last let's look at the last part so we can finish this episode. Can we pursue cleaner energy while also protecting vulnerable communities? Uh short, short answer, yes, we can. It's just that we have to be more vocal about it and we need to be more able to express these ideas and to articulate them to other people, other colleagues, and explain the cost about these types of things that are happening with EVs and not just saying, hey, yeah, it's clean for the environment, but at what cost? And explain these different ideas and have these open conversations, not to point fingers, not to judge, but just to have an open conversation. So let's end this episode before I get on a my voice starts breaking down. So maybe the question isn't whether EVs are good or bad. Maybe the more important question is whether we're willing to look at the entire story behind them. Because when we talk about building a greener future, we should probably ask who is included in the future and who might be paying the hidden costs. So, with that, I like to leave you with that idea, and I do appreciate all the support I've been getting, the downloads. I am very amazed by the statistics, and I want to say the supporters that have given me a lot of feedback, thank you. I, you know, I'm listening, I'm trying to get better. This is still kind of a work in progress. I will get better, but thank you so much for listening. I do appreciate it. You guys have a good day, good night, good evening, whatever the case may be. With a person who always wants told me something, and I like to leave that with you. Create yourself a great day because you obviously make the choice of either having a bad day or a good day. So create yourself a great day. Take care.