The puddles on this pavement are shimmering with a thin film of oil, reflecting the skyscrapers like a digital dream, bu

Walking through the city after a spring rain, you’d think the world was powered by nothing but clean glass and good intentions. I’ve got an old letter in my pocket from a colleague who spent time near Kolwezi, describing the 'creuseurs', or artisanal miners, digging for cobalt with little more than iron bars and bare hands. It’s a sobering contrast to the sleek gadgets everyone is staring at while they wait for the light to change.
We talk a lot about 'clean' technology in these high-rises, but that dirt doesn't wash off just because the supply chain is long. It’s easy to oppose a mine in your own backyard when you aren't the one climbing into a hand-dug hole in the DRC just to put a battery in a stranger's pocket. If we truly cared about the human cost, we’d stop treating domestic permitting like a hobby and start taking responsibility for where our minerals actually come from. The reflection in the water looks nice, but the reality is a lot dustier and a lot more urgent.