{"id":13161,"date":"2022-12-20T13:30:50","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T13:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golive.clarku.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/20\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T09:30:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:30:41","slug":"a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/20\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"A deep dig into the extractives industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

Geography professor researches impact on people, environment, and climate<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\nCoal mining in England, including in Geography Professor Anthony Bebbington’s hometown of Stoke-on-Trent, “really did foster economic development of sorts,” he explains. “But … [p]eople tolerated these costs because it also generated lots of jobs.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nExtractives. To many people, the word might elicit a wide range of connotations. But in the world of environmental science and international development, extractives — typically referring to the oil, gas, and minerals removed from the earth — signify an industry with significant, often irreversible, impacts across the world.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nDepending on your perspective, the extractive industry might provide many opportunities — to produce energy, drive economies, employ people, and enrich communities, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordfoundation.org\/about\/people\/anthony-bebbington\/\">Anthony Bebbington<\/a>, international program director for natural resources and climate change at the Ford Foundation, a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasonline.org\/\">National Academy of Sciences<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amacad.org\/\">American Academy of Arts and Sciences<\/a>, and Higgins Professor of Environment and Society in Clark’s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/geography\/\">Graduate School of Geography<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nBut on the other side, Bebbington explains, you might see negative impacts to the environment, human health, and economies that once benefited from mining and other extractive activities.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n“Extractive activity runs the risk of serious forms of pollution. Activists might say [there is a] risk that this extraction of these minerals from this mountaintop is going to permanently deplete and contaminate our water supply. … We do not want that on our back doorstep,” he says. “The company would say, ‘But we can manage that risk. With the benefits that will be generated from this extraction, we can compensate any adverse impacts there might be.’”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft wp-image-26482\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022-Navigating-the-Climate-Crisis-Bebbington-1.jpg\" alt=\"Anthony Bebbington\" class=\"wp-image-26482\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Anthony Bebbington speaks to undergraduate students in the Navigating the Global Climate Crisis course.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nBebbington can point to his hometown of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, as an example of a community that has flourished and then slumped, part of the boom-and-bust cycle of coal and ore mining, and steel production. Wedgwood and other iconic potteries — part of an industry historically linked to coal, which fires the kilns — sprang up there in the 18th century.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n“For a period of time, mining there really did foster economic development of sorts,” he explains. “But that link between mining and potteries meant there were periods when Stoke had the dirtiest air in the UK. … People tolerated these costs because it also generated lots of jobs.” Yet, “the mines then all closed, and the steel mill closed, and now most of the potteries have gone as well.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nIn his earlier research, Bebbington, who holds a Ph.D. from Clark’s Graduate School of Geography, studied rural development and small-scale agriculture in South America’s Andean countries. He credits his life partner, <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.clarku.edu\/faculty\/facultybio.cfm?id=922\">Denise Humphreys Bebbington<\/a>, research associate professor in International Development, Community, and Environment (IDCE), for introducing him to issues arising from mining and other extractive activities when both were working in Peru in the early 1990s. Since then, the Bebbingtons have explored and published on the topic; they are co-authors — with Abdul-Gafaru Abdulai, Marja Hinfelaar, and Cynthia Sanborn — of the book “<a href=\"https:\/\/global.oup.com\/academic\/product\/governing-extractive-industries-9780198820932?cc=us&lang=en&\">Governing Extractive Industries<\/a>.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nWith colleagues in the Graduate School of Geography — Professor John Rogan; Nick Cuba, M.A. GIS ’16, Ph.D. ’11; and Laura Sauls, Ph.D. ’19 — they have collaborated on research through the <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.clarku.edu\/extractiveindustries\/\">Center for the Study of Natural Resource Extraction and Society<\/a> at Clark.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group red-box is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-students-learn-how-to-navigate-the-global-climate-crisis\">Students learn how to navigate the global climate crisis<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nGeography Professor Anthony Bebbington, the Ford Foundation’s international program director for natural resources and climate change, spoke to an undergraduate class on Navigating the Global Climate Crisis on Nov. 29; he was joined by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordfoundation.org\/about\/people\/justin-sylvester\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Justin Sylvester<\/a>, a senior program officer in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordfoundation.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ford Foundation<\/a>’s Southern Africa Office.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nThe two provided their insight into the U.N. Climate Change Conferences, known as COPs. At <a href=\"https:\/\/unfccc.int\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">COP27<\/a> in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union announced the Just Energy Transition Partnership, an agreement <a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jy1085\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to pay $8.5 billion<\/a> to help with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordfoundation.org\/news-and-stories\/stories\/posts\/what-will-it-take-to-bring-clean-energy-to-south-africa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">South Africa’s just-energy transition<\/a>, replacing coal with renewable energy.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/clarknow.clarku.edu\/2022\/12\/20\/first-year-students-learn-from-renowned-scholars-how-to-navigate-global-climate-crisis\/\" style=\"--clarku-button-color:var(--clarku-color-brand)\" class=\"clarku-button has-clark-red-color clarku-button-arrow\">Explore the class<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nListen and subscribe on <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4UuYAjq1d3Hq45cjwxoCNL\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Spotify<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/challenge-change\/id1608025510\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>. Challenge. Change.<\/strong> is produced by Melissa Hanson and Andrew Hart for Clark University. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter wp-image-26479 size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Coal-mining-South-Africa-1024x682-2.jpg\" alt=\"Aerial view of coal mining operation in South Africa\" class=\"wp-image-26479\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\nA large coal export terminal in Richards Bay, on the east coast of South Africa.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Geography professor researches impact on people, environment, and climate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13162,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"#525250","story_headerImg":13162,"section_label":"CHALLENGE. CHANGE. PODCAST","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[241,239],"displayed_author":[242],"featured":[],"topic":[328,131,132,310,150,160,165,211,133,168,152,287,276,270,176,162,213,135],"class_list":["post-13161","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment-sustainability","category-worcester-world","displayed_author-meredith-woodward-king","topic-africa","topic-climate-change","topic-environment-and-sustainability","topic-europe","topic-faculty","topic-faculty-research","topic-geography","topic-geography-faculty","topic-global","topic-graduate-arts-sciences","topic-international","topic-international-development","topic-international-development-and-social-change","topic-international-development-community-and-environment-department","topic-podcast","topic-research","topic-south-america","topic-sustainability"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>A deep dig into the extractives industry | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/20\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A deep dig into the extractives industry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Geography professor researches impact on people, environment, and climate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/20\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ClarkU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-19T13:30:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Bebbington-coal-mining-Sepia4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1340\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"927\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/12\\\/20\\\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/12\\\/20\\\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\\\/\",\"name\":\"A deep dig into the extractives industry | ClarkU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/12\\\/20\\\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/12\\\/20\\\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/Bebbington-coal-mining-Sepia4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-20T13:30:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-19T13:30:41+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/12\\\/20\\\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/2022\\\/12\\\/20\\\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/Bebbington-coal-mining-Sepia4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/37\\\/Bebbington-coal-mining-Sepia4.jpg\",\"width\":1340,\"height\":927,\"caption\":\"Coal mining in England\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/13161#breadcrumbs\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":0,\"name\":\"ClarkU\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":6,\"name\":\"Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/13161\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"ClarkU News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A deep dig into the extractives industry | ClarkU News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/20\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A deep dig into the extractives industry","og_description":"Geography professor researches impact on people, environment, and climate","og_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/20\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\/","og_site_name":"ClarkU News","article_modified_time":"2025-05-19T13:30:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1340,"height":927,"url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Bebbington-coal-mining-Sepia4.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/20\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/20\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\/","name":"A deep dig into the extractives industry | ClarkU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/20\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/20\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Bebbington-coal-mining-Sepia4.jpg","datePublished":"2022-12-20T13:30:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-19T13:30:41+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/20\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2022\/12\/20\/a-deep-dig-into-the-extractives-industry\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Bebbington-coal-mining-Sepia4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Bebbington-coal-mining-Sepia4.jpg","width":1340,"height":927,"caption":"Coal mining in England"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13161#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":0,"name":"ClarkU","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ClarkU News","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13161"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/","name":"ClarkU News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/Bebbington-coal-mining-Sepia4-1024x708.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/story"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story\/13161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13161"},{"taxonomy":"displayed_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/displayed_author?post=13161"},{"taxonomy":"featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured?post=13161"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=13161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}