The Patriot Post® · Leftmedia Finally Questions Ethics of EVs
It’s taken long enough, but members of the Leftmedia finally have begun noticing that the promise of an electrically driven future may not quite live up to the morally superior moniker it has been given. In fact, a future where the vast majority of cars Americans drive are electric holds some considerable downsides, especially when it comes to human labor and negative environmental impacts.
Even The Washington Post has begun highlighting several of the genuinely problematic and morally reprehensible aspects of the “green revolution.” In a recent article titled “In scramble for EV metals, health threat to workers often goes unaddressed,” the Post notes the serious health dangers associated with the mining and production of manganese, one of the materials necessary for the production of EV batteries.
These mines and production facilities are located in places such as South Africa and Gabon, where worker protections and safeguards are often secondary as the demand for manganese rises. An increasing number of workers are suffering the negative health effects. The article highlights one former worker who asks: “How long is it going to take until people start realizing what is happening? Another 30 or 40 years? Must we wait until people start dying?”
Another Washington Post article, published this week, is titled “Despite reforms, mining for EV metals in Congo exacts steep cost on workers.” This time, the Post observes that mining cobalt from Congo, the world’s largest producer, comes via dire working conditions often endured by child laborers. Slave labor is also a significant contributing factor in the mining of cobalt.
While noting that “EVs are widely considered crucial to addressing climate change,” the article observes, “Without a full accounting, there is a risk that the green-energy transition could repeat the painful history of earlier industrial revolutions.” Ya think?
However, the reprehensible labor conditions for mining the minerals necessary for making EV batteries are just one of many problems with forcing this green revolution.
It’s painfully ironic that Kamala Harris is busy lying about Florida’s slavery curriculum while the Biden administration is seeking to force more Americans to buy into an industry that relies on slave labor.
While leftists largely ignore the exploitation of those laboring in the mines, Americans are increasingly bearing the economic brunt of Biden’s green revolution, which is being foisted upon the country via the regulatory state and will cost Americans billions of dollars. It’s everything from new CAFE standards that are heavily pushing the market toward EVs to a proposed change to the National Environmental Policy Act that would require all federal agencies to consider climate change for “environmental justice” when evaluating projects.
On top of all this is the fact that the country simply doesn’t have the infrastructure in place to handle a significant increase in EVs. There are not enough charging stations and not enough power being produced to provide for millions more new EVs.
Speaking of power, renewable energy sources cannot even promise to sustain the current power demands of the country, let alone a huge influx of EVs. Ask California.
Will the Leftmedia eventually get around to admitting this reality as well? Or is it too committed to the climate cult to be bothered?