Progtard's Electric Vehicle Craze Is Fueling Child Labor

[Anonymous]

This could have went under the hypocrisy of the left, but it is so frickin despicable, it needed it's own thread.



https://dailycaller.com/2019/05/22/gunasekara-california-vehicle/">https://dailycaller.com/2019/05/22/guna ... a-vehicle/">https://dailycaller.com/2019/05/22/gunasekara-california-vehicle/

High-dollar marketing campaigns have convinced the environmentally conscious that driving around in a zero-emission vehicle can make one look and feel good. While the consumer's desire is often genuine and laudable, electric vehicle makers, marketers and some of the environmental NGOs that support them are hoping the Zen of an environmentally-sound purchase is enough to outweigh any other concern, including the heartbreaking fact that the growth of the electric vehicle market is exacerbating the problem of child labor in African cobalt mines.



Cobalt is an essential part of lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles. Other products such as cell phones, laptops and "smart" luggage use these batteries as well. However, the much larger quantities required for electric vehicle batteries and the projected growth of the industry has been a key driver of rising cobalt demand. In 2018, investors referred to cobalt as the "hottest metal on the planet" after demand had nearly tripled and many analysts project demand to double again by 2020.



While cobalt is mined all over the world, close to 60 percent of the global supply comes from the DRC. According to UNICEF and Amnesty International, around 40,000 children are involved in cobalt mining in the DRC where they make a few dollars a day. An investigative look found that work in the African mining operations begins as early as four-years old where children can pick cobalt out of a pile. At 10, hard labor begins when children are forced to carry heavy sacks of cobalt on their backs to rivers for washing.



The hard truth is that the electric vehicle market is exacerbating child labor atrocities abroad. As a country, we are at a critical juncture where we can either continue to find justifications to turn a blind eye to this inconvenient truth or do something about it. While California proved uninterested, every other state could propose a similar bill. Congress could also consider how to ensure the taxpayer-funded electric vehicle tax credit is not a part of the problem either.

[Anonymous]

North American produced energy and internal combustion engine vehicles do not exploit kids and have the same massive environmental land footprint as the unsustainable e-car rare earth metal trade. Scientists have recorded alarming radioactivity levels in some mining regions. Mining waste often pollutes rivers and drinking water, and causes breathing problems.



Clean electric cars are built on pollution in Congo

The country's cobalt bonanza looks set to benefit only elites and mining companies



Behind every clean electric car there is cobalt. And behind cobalt is the Democratic Republic of Congo.

https://www.ft.com/content/427b8cb0-71d7-11e7-aca6-c6bd07df1a3c">https://www.ft.com/content/427b8cb0-71d ... bd07df1a3c">https://www.ft.com/content/427b8cb0-71d7-11e7-aca6-c6bd07df1a3c

[Gaon]

North America is self sufficient in oil and gas plus minerals for auto steel production. I don't see how buying unnecessary metals from China and Africa is better for the environment or energy sustainability.



This is a strange continent.

[Anonymous]

North America is self sufficient in oil and gas plus minerals for auto steel production. I don't see how buying unnecessary metals from China and Africa is better for the environment or energy sustainability.



This is a strange continent.

And on top of that, there is no evidence that e-vehicles do what the subsidies on them are for and that's stop climate change.

[Anonymous]

North America is self sufficient in oil and gas plus minerals for auto steel production. I don't see how buying unnecessary metals from China and Africa is better for the environment or energy sustainability.



This is a strange continent.

And on top of that, there is no evidence that e-vehicles do what the subsidies on them are for and that's stop climate change.

If a person wants an e car fine, but they are fooling themselves if they think it's better for the environment, fights climate change or the resources extracted to make them are more sustainable.

[Anonymous]

This could have went under the hypocrisy of the left, but it is so frickin despicable, it needed it's own thread.



https://dailycaller.com/2019/05/22/gunasekara-california-vehicle/">https://dailycaller.com/2019/05/22/guna ... a-vehicle/">https://dailycaller.com/2019/05/22/gunasekara-california-vehicle/

High-dollar marketing campaigns have convinced the environmentally conscious that driving around in a zero-emission vehicle can make one look and feel good. While the consumer's desire is often genuine and laudable, electric vehicle makers, marketers and some of the environmental NGOs that support them are hoping the Zen of an environmentally-sound purchase is enough to outweigh any other concern, including the heartbreaking fact that the growth of the electric vehicle market is exacerbating the problem of child labor in African cobalt mines.



Cobalt is an essential part of lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles. Other products such as cell phones, laptops and "smart" luggage use these batteries as well. However, the much larger quantities required for electric vehicle batteries and the projected growth of the industry has been a key driver of rising cobalt demand. In 2018, investors referred to cobalt as the "hottest metal on the planet" after demand had nearly tripled and many analysts project demand to double again by 2020.



While cobalt is mined all over the world, close to 60 percent of the global supply comes from the DRC. According to UNICEF and Amnesty International, around 40,000 children are involved in cobalt mining in the DRC where they make a few dollars a day. An investigative look found that work in the African mining operations begins as early as four-years old where children can pick cobalt out of a pile. At 10, hard labor begins when children are forced to carry heavy sacks of cobalt on their backs to rivers for washing.



The hard truth is that the electric vehicle market is exacerbating child labor atrocities abroad. As a country, we are at a critical juncture where we can either continue to find justifications to turn a blind eye to this inconvenient truth or do something about it. While California proved uninterested, every other state could propose a similar bill. Congress could also consider how to ensure the taxpayer-funded electric vehicle tax credit is not a part of the problem either.

White libtards don't give a fuck about pollution or hard physical child labour in black Africa. Just as long as they get to feel smug.

[Anonymous]

North America is self sufficient in oil and gas plus minerals for auto steel production. I don't see how buying unnecessary metals from China and Africa is better for the environment or energy sustainability.



This is a strange continent.

And on top of that, there is no evidence that e-vehicles do what the subsidies on them are for and that's stop climate change.

If a person wants an e car fine, but they are fooling themselves if they think it's better for the environment, fights climate change or the resources extracted to make them are more sustainable.

It makes your energy bills more expensive though.

[caskur]

North America is self sufficient in oil and gas plus minerals for auto steel production. I don't see how buying unnecessary metals from China and Africa is better for the environment or energy sustainability.



This is a strange continent.

I used to think this way until I realized those other countries need jobs and giving them jobs keeps them in their own country.

[caskur]

North America is self sufficient in oil and gas plus minerals for auto steel production. I don't see how buying unnecessary metals from China and Africa is better for the environment or energy sustainability.



This is a strange continent.

And on top of that, there is no evidence that e-vehicles do what the subsidies on them are for and that's stop climate change.

If a person wants an e car fine, but they are fooling themselves if they think it's better for the environment, fights climate change or the resources extracted to make them are more sustainable.

I agree plus batteries are finite and have to be replaced. And they are nearly the cost of new cars.



I want a spare battery for my camera and they want me to pay over $100 for it... And it's only a couple of centimeters wide.

[Anonymous]

North America is self sufficient in oil and gas plus minerals for auto steel production. I don't see how buying unnecessary metals from China and Africa is better for the environment or energy sustainability.



This is a strange continent.

And on top of that, there is no evidence that e-vehicles do what the subsidies on them are for and that's stop climate change.

If a person wants an e car fine, but they are fooling themselves if they think it's better for the environment, fights climate change or the resources extracted to make them are more sustainable.

I agree plus batteries are finite and have to be replaced. And they are nearly the cost of new cars.



I want a spare battery for my camera and they want me to pay over $100 for it... And it's only a couple of centimeters wide.

We don't know what to do with the toxic waste from e cars.....regular vehicles are recycled.

[Anonymous]

North America is self sufficient in oil and gas plus minerals for auto steel production. I don't see how buying unnecessary metals from China and Africa is better for the environment or energy sustainability.



This is a strange continent.

I used to think this way until I realized those other countries need jobs and giving them jobs keeps them in their own country.

The idea behind it is that we become self sufficient and the resource is not finite. The exact opposite is true for both.

[caskur]

North America is self sufficient in oil and gas plus minerals for auto steel production. I don't see how buying unnecessary metals from China and Africa is better for the environment or energy sustainability.



This is a strange continent.

I used to think this way until I realized those other countries need jobs and giving them jobs keeps them in their own country.

The idea behind it is that we become self sufficient and the resource is not finite. The exact opposite is true for both.

I'm saying batteries are finite. They eventually have to be replaced because they don't hold their charge.



What are you saying?Can you write what you said another way please?

[Anonymous]

North America is self sufficient in oil and gas plus minerals for auto steel production. I don't see how buying unnecessary metals from China and Africa is better for the environment or energy sustainability.



This is a strange continent.

I used to think this way until I realized those other countries need jobs and giving them jobs keeps them in their own country.

The idea behind it is that we become self sufficient and the resource is not finite. The exact opposite is true for both.

That's right, electric vehicles makes us, North America in particular, more reliant on finite resources compared to internal combustion engine vehicles.

[Anonymous]

The 'battery fairy' and other delusions in the demand to replace gasoline powered vehicles with electric cars and trucks

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/02/the_battery_fairy_and_other_delusions_in_the_demand_to_replace_gasoline_powered_vehicles_with_electric_cars_and_trucks.html?fbclid=IwAR1G8zhT780V3KwEfcwz1ci1boFyQeL9Qb6U7QblzgtkySdhUB0GJZnnNXs#.YBpePqkbo5E.facebook">https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/20 ... E.facebook">https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/02/the_battery_fairy_and_other_delusions_in_the_demand_to_replace_gasoline_powered_vehicles_with_electric_cars_and_trucks.html?fbclid=IwAR1G8zhT780V3KwEfcwz1ci1boFyQeL9Qb6U7QblzgtkySdhUB0GJZnnNXs#.YBpePqkbo5E.facebook



GM, rescued from liquidation courtesy of US taxpayers (and bondholders who were cheated out of their place in line as creditors by the Obama administration), may simply be sucking up to governmental power. But Akio Toyoda, CEO of Toyota Motors, the world's largest (or second largest, depending on the year). and grandson of the automaker's founder, has spoken out and called out fallacy of thinking that this is possible or desirable. [I must here disclose that I was a consultant for a Toyota company for several years, but that all my comments on the company here are based on publicly available information.]



The Wall Street Journal was in attendance and noted the CEO's disdain for EVs boils down to his belief they'll ruin businesses, require massive investments, and even emit more carbon dioxide than combustion-engined vehicles. "The current business model of the car industry is going to collapse," he said. "The more EVs we build, the worse carbon dioxide gets... When politicians are out there saying, 'Let's get rid of all cars using gasoline,' do they understand this?"



Studies detailing the carbon emissions necessary to manufacture an electric vehicle reveal that on a net basis, there are more emissions for vehicle bought and used for its expected lifetime, than would be generated by buying and using a conventional gasoline-powered vehicle.



Toyota can certainly make electric powered vehicles. It introduced the hybrid Prius, after all, and has a strong position in that market. Toyota's mastery of the discipline of mass production of vehicles is such that it could do well no matter what power source is used. But the costs of complete conversion to electricity-powered vehicles are mind boggling.



Where will all, the electricity needed to power to entire fleet of cars in the US (or Japan) come from? Despite the fantasies of greenies, it won't be from windmills or solar farms. They are too unreliable, take up too much land, and cost too much. Right now, it is coal and natural gas that produce the most electricity at the most reasonable cost.  And they emit CO2. Plus, there is considerable loss of power due to resistance in the transmission lines, requiring an even greater amount of gross power before the net power reaches the battery in the vehicle, charging at the user's home ort some other location.  Nuclear power does offer some potential, but how many people want to live near the hundreds and hundreds of nuclear power plants that would be required to fuel the nation's vehicles?



Then there is the small matter of batteries. The very large batteries needed for electric cars use lots of expensive lithium (and some other rare elements) whose supply is limited, and whose mining requires lots of scarce water. In fact, powering the world's vehicles by battery is simply impossible, given the limited world supply of lithium, as this clever post by Powerline's Steve Hayward makes clear. The title gives away the punchline:



WHO WILL TELL THE GREENS THERE IS NO BATTERY FAIRY?



For the longest while I have been asking, "Where do environmentalists and Democrats think all these batteries for our oil-free transportation fleet are going to come from?" It seems they think there is a Battery Fairy out there somewhere who will magically supply the ginormous battery capacity, and additional supply of electricity to charge them, in order to deliver us to our blessed fossil-fuel-free future.



But there's a problem. As the world scrambles to replace fossil fuels with clean energy, the environmental impact of finding all the lithium required to enable that transformation could become a serious issue in its own right. "One of the biggest environmental problems caused by our endless hunger for the latest and smartest devices is a growing mineral crisis, particularly those needed to make our batteries," says Christina Valimaki an analyst at Elsevier. . .



It's a relatively cheap and effective process, but it uses a lot of water – approximately 500,000 gallons per tonne of lithium. In Chile's Salar de Atacama, mining activities consumed 65 per cent of the region's water. That is having a big impact on local farmers – who grow quinoa and herd llamas – in an area where some communities already have to get water driven in from elsewhere. . .



Two other key ingredients, cobalt and nickel, are more in danger of creating a bottleneck in the move towards electric vehicles, and at a potentially huge environmental cost. Cobalt is found in huge quantities right across the Democratic Republic of Congo and central Africa, and hardly anywhere else. The price has quadrupled in the last two years.



I am glad that some grownups are pointing out that the electric vehicle conversion emperor has no clothes on. But that hasn't stopped governments, manufacturers, and investors from pretending that electric vehicles are our only future.



As Herbert Stein famously said, "If something cannot go on forever, it will stop." We're only beginning to discover that about pipe dreams of an all-electric vehicle future.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/02/the_battery_fairy_and_other_delusions_in_the_demand_to_replace_gasoline_powered_vehicles_with_electric_cars_and_trucks.html?fbclid=IwAR1G8zhT780V3KwEfcwz1ci1boFyQeL9Qb6U7QblzgtkySdhUB0GJZnnNXs#.YBpePqkbo5E.facebook">https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/20 ... E.facebook">https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/02/the_battery_fairy_and_other_delusions_in_the_demand_to_replace_gasoline_powered_vehicles_with_electric_cars_and_trucks.html?fbclid=IwAR1G8zhT780V3KwEfcwz1ci1boFyQeL9Qb6U7QblzgtkySdhUB0GJZnnNXs#.YBpePqkbo5E.facebook