What does it really take to power a “green” future? Where do the minerals inside our phones and electric cars come from—and at what cost? Who bears the burden of the world’s race to decarbonize? 

In The Elements of Power, journalist Nicolas Niarchos delivers a deeply reported account of the global scramble for the metals that fuel the energy transition. Tracing supply chains from Central Africa to Beijing and Washington, he reveals how the fight over battery minerals is reshaping geopolitics—and exposing the devastating human consequences of our best intentions.

About the speakers:

Nicolas Niarchos is a journalist whose work focuses on energy, war, and migration. His work has been published in the New Yorker, the Nation, and the New York Times. He has testified on the effects of Congolese battery metal mining on Capitol Hill. His work on mining in Indonesia was shortlisted for a 2024 Livingston Award. In 2023, he won an Edward R. Murrow Award for a radio report from Ukraine for the New Yorker and WNYC.

Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (the speakers will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.

Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.