Can We Make Mining More Equitable?

Recent scares in the capital have prompted sincere concerns for the future of renewable energy. The second Trump administration, known for callous defunding of important federal organizations and blatant destructive action toward the environment, has continued its rampage. There are serious and frightening attempts being made to keep the dirtiest coal plants in operation for years to come. While historically coal has been a reliable source of energy that requires no downtime, and can meet the demanding needs of global superpowers, it is one of the most polluting and greenhouse gas emitting industries worldwide. Bringing coal back to the Midwest is not a great prospect, especially when so many were in the process of retiring.

There are 206 coal plants left in the U.S, which only accounts for 16% of the energy produced in the country.It seems financially unwise to many citizens and experts alike to ramp up a dying industry, regardless of the environmental risks. The Biden administration had put work into offering incentives for these plants to announce a retirement date, but with regulations being stripped back by Trump, it is doubtful that these dates will hold steady. Forecasts of rising electricity demand and the uncertainty of the current administration has already pushed back the retirement dates for many plants. Trump also plans to repeal the subsidies that make batteries and renewable energy materials more affordable. 

How do we Ensure Sustainable Mining for Renewable Resources?

There is a vivid exploitation in the mining industry in the U.S. In order to power batteries, build solar panels and wind turbines, a lot of precious metal must come out of the Earth. This means those in mining professions have been working in some of the most dangerous conditions to provide the American market with precious minerals. While the output is environmentally sound, mining and metals are still quite carbon-intensive sectors, and since the demand for technological goods is showing no signs of slowing down, mining production must go up with it. Dangerous conditions, exposure to air pollution, mining through valuable habitats, and long hours makes mining a labor intensive profession not many would prefer to uptake. Certain metals and minerals are more valuable than others, the world must work together to find equitable ways to source what is needed to invest in electric vehicles, solar panels, computer chips, etc. 

AI's Involvement in Mining

Recent development with AI has put pressure on many companies to invest in the technology to support it. While we cannot shy away from learning everything we can about new technologies, and find ways to incorporate it into climate change solutions, it is a booming industry. This means that change is happening at a rate human labor cannot keep up with. Remembering that human bodies are tied to the internet in more ways than just through the code they write is hard in 2025. This is especially hard when most technological agendas are being pushed by Elon Musk and his supporters. To stay resilient in the new administration, we must use knowledge as a tool to create the most equitable transitions to clean energy. 

“GPU chips involve a number of different specialty raw materials that are somewhat rare and hard to acquire, including tungsten, palladium, cobalt, and tantalum. Other elements might be easier to acquire but have significant health and safety risks, such as mercury and lead.” (2024)

Data centers (like pictured below) take a lot of energy to process internet requests, and its limits are tested by AI. If we don't use renewable sources to keep up with the trend in using more energy, we will have a hard time mitigating climate change.

Miners are constantly exposed to carcinogens, toxic metals, and are breathing fine particulates on a daily basis. The next few years will be about who we leave behind as the world warms. 10 miners have died this year in the U.S alone, which emphasizes how this industry is too risky to rely on this heavily. This is even further exacerbated by the extreme exploitation of children in other countries who do these jobs for little to no pay. Heat waves will kill physical laborers easily, and extreme weather events may make mines more prone to caving in. 

While these are the realities of the mining industry, it is important to note that the solution is not to burn more coal. Rather, we should invest in safe mining practices, bring about more regulations to protect land that is home to the world's biodiversity stores, and give miners proper health insurance, time off, and pay them enough to do the jobs many of us would never dream of doing. 

Coal burning must sharply decline before 2040 in order to have any hope of staying underneath 2 degrees Celsius of warming. While recent initiatives have leveled off coal burning and brought about some hope, there is no predicting what might happen next. It is essential to bring about as much awareness of the cheap and efficient benefits of using solar and wind power.