Why a Chilean salt flat is a microcosm of the extractive frontiers of green capitalism
The article examines the environmental and social impact of lithium extraction in Chile's Atacama salt flats. It highlights the tension between the global need for green energy batteries and the local destruction of ecosystems and indigenous resources.
Why it matters
It illustrates the 'green paradox' where climate change solutions can inadvertently cause severe local environmental degradation.
Andean flamingos. All three of the Atacama salt flats’ endemic flamingo species are in decline. Andean flamingos. All three of the Atacama salt flats’ endemic flamingo species are in decline. Chile Why a Chilean salt flat is a microcosm of the extractive frontiers of green capitalism In the Atacama desert, the extraction of lithium – so crucial to addressing the climate crisis – comes with escalating social and environmental costs
Prefer the Guardian on Google A high-altitude desert plateau traverses Argentina, Bolivia and Chile . I am on the Chilean side, sitting in a Jeep along with two other researchers. The afternoon air is thin and brisk but the sun is piercing – a combination I am familiar with from years of living and travelling in South America’s Andean range.
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