Environmental Internship Program - 2023 Booklet

Alex Norbrook ’26
HISTORY
Certificate: Environmental Studies
ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
AND URBAN SUSTAINABILITY
PROJECT TITLE
Mining for the Climate
ORGANIZATION(S)
Blue Lab,
Effron Center for the
Study of America,
Princeton University
LOCATION(S)
Pasadena, California;
Thacker Pass, Nevada;
Princeton, New Jersey;
Gaston County, North
Carolina
MENTOR(S)
Allison Carruth,
Professor of American
Studies and the High
Meadows Environmental
Institute, Princeton
University; Nate Otjen,
Postdoctoral Research
Associate, High Meadows
Environmental Institute,
Princeton University;
Juan Manuel Rubio, UC
President’s and Andrew
W. Mellon Postdoctoral
Fellow, Department of
Global Studies, University
of California, Santa
Barbara
The net-zero transition will be fueled by
mineral extraction. The Biden administration
and climate policy experts aim to expand
domestic extraction of critical minerals to
rapidly deploy electric vehicles and combat
transportation emissions. Mining companies
are moving forward with new projects in states
like Nevada, North Carolina and California.
Because narratives around climate mitigation are
usually crafted and disseminated at a distance
from those directly affected by mining activity,
I wanted to examine how they are deployed and
experienced on the ground. I aimed to address
questions including, how do mining companies
use net-zero narratives to justify their projects,
and how do residents and activists counter them
while opening alternate paths to a climatesafe
future? I conducted 10 days of fieldwork at
two proposed mine locations to contribute to a
podcast on critical mineral narratives. I learned
to conduct in-depth interviews and deploy audio
equipment and then worked to craft a five-part
audio series on one mine in North Carolina. I
used podcast editing software to draft the third
episode, which focuses on the logistics of the
mine. I now have a clearer understanding of why
an environmental justice approach is necessary
for a successful energy transition.