16 ALASKA RESOURCE REVIEW FALL 2024 ‘The War Below’ author brings wealth of resource development experience BY LEE LESCHPER ERNEST SCHEYDER IS THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER FOR THE 45TH ANNUAL RDC ALASKA RESOURCE CONFERENCE. He is the author of “The War Below,” the just-released book chronicling the gulf between the need for critical minerals to fuel the green energy transition, and the many tradeoffs to launching new mines in the United States. Scheyder has made a career reporting on resource development, telling stories seldom getting told. He is a senior correspondent for Reuters, covering the green energy transition and the minerals that it requires. He previously covered the U.S. shale oil revolution, politics, and the environment, and held roles at the Associated Press and the Bangor Daily News. A native of Maine, Scheyder is a graduate of the University of Maine and Columbia Journalism School. He works now in Houston and this will be his first trip to Alaska. Growing up in Maine, he says he has always appreciated the outdoors including hunting and fishing. Scheyder spent a few minutes talking with us about his work and the book, which looks through the lens of rare earth projects in the U.S. “What I wanted to do with the book was help audiences across the United States and really the world to explore the complex supply chain that is part of this critical minerals revolution that is taking shape right now,” he said. “The book for me is an outreach of my job at Reuters where I write about critical minerals. Before I wrote about critical minerals, I wrote about oil and gas for a long time. I spent about two years in North Dakota writing about the Bakken Shale oil revolution that really changed that state’s economy. “And, for me, the linchpin really was that this is so much more than just the energy transition. It is all the electronic devices we use every single day — cellphones, laptops, televisions — they’re all built with these critical minerals as well. So where, and how, we get the building blocks for these devices matters. “And so, what I wanted to do with the book was to bring this idea of choice to the reader, because I don’t think we are having these broad conversations right now, about what are the choices we are willing to make.” Americans have to choose, if they want these energy transition devices, and want an electronic based future, where and how those critical minerals, as well as more common metals like copper, are mined, he said. But it’s not just mining, but the complete supply chain, that matters, he added. “The more I reported these issues in my day job, the more I realized the average consumer is not considering these issues or even fully aware. But I realized during the covid pandemic that the issue of supply chains was one that the average person was aware of and was thinking through. “As an example, masks. It was a shock four years ago to learn that the United States does not make masks. And they say, how could this be, how could the U.S. export manufacturing of these simple yet essential articles of medical equipment to another country?” “I argue in the book that really indecision is a decision. And so that was my goal with the book.” Scheyder devotes chapters to a number of different rare earth projects, most still in development. He looks at broad issues from Indigenous rights to local community interaction and transparency with mining neighbors. “For example, what does a mining company owe a neighbor community? And the entire narrative thread is around the tensions between biodiversity and climate change.” He does not draw conclusions for the readers, instead in the tradition of good journalism, provides facts on all sides of the complex issue, and challenges readers to draw their own conclusions. His keynote address at the RDC annual conference should continue that goal. MEET ERNEST SCHEYDER: KEYNOTE SPEAKER 45TH ANNUAL RDC ALASKA RESOURCE CONFERENCE
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