{"id":275248,"date":"2023-08-23T19:42:04","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T17:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=275248"},"modified":"2023-08-23T19:42:18","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T17:42:18","slug":"carnage-of-child-labor-and-ecological-destruction-elsewhere-acceptable-to-wealthy-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=275248","title":{"rendered":"Carnage of Child Labor and Ecological Destruction \u201cElsewhere\u201d acceptable to Wealthy Countries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wealthy countries\u2019 actions, to meet their emission goals, show little concern for the\u00a0<\/em><\/a>humanity atrocities and the environment degradation in \u201cother\u201d countries.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published August 19, 2023, at the Heartland Institute\u00a0<\/em>https:\/\/heartland.org\/opinion\/carnage-of-child-labor-and-ecological-destruction-elsewhere-acceptable-to-wealthy-countries\/<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ronald Stein\u00a0<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is an engineer, senior policy advisor on energy literacy for the Heartland Institute and CFACT, and co-author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated book \u201cClean Energy Exploitations.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global cobalt demand soared with the advent of cell phones and laptop computers. Cobalt\u00a0improves battery performance<\/strong><\/a>, extends driving range and reduces fire risks. Now, cobalt, lithium, and other materials are exploding with the arrival of electric vehicles in tandem with government EV mandates and subsidies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that electrical transformation equipment will require billions of tons of cobalt, lithium, copper, nickel, graphite, iron, aluminum, rare earths, and other raw materials at scales unprecedented in human history. That will necessitate mining, ore processing, manufacturing, land disruption and pollution at equally unprecedented levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Administration is laser-focused on ending the \u201cclimate crisis\u201d by switching to \u201cclean\u201d electricity. It has few qualms about importing the critically needed materials from foreign countries, primarily China \u2013 regardless of economic, defense, national security, ecological or human rights implications. It just wants the dirty aspects of \u201cclean\u201d electricity far away and out of sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cobalt mining involves unimaginable horrors that are never discussed by environmentalists nor by government leaders.\u00a0However, the Biden Administration opposes mining in the United States even under stringent US pollution, workplace safety and mined-land reclamation regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An educational and entertaining \u00a045-minute discussion between Stu Turley of Sandstone Media\u2019s Energy News Beat and Ronald Stein about \u201cClean Energy Exploitations<\/strong><\/a>\u201d brings transparency to the humanity exploitations and environmental degradation in the developing countries that are mining for the exotic minerals and metals required to create the batteries needed to store \u201cgreen electricity\u201d. \u00a0Just a few minutes into the video I provide an explanation of the exploitations that should be considered in the buying process for an EV that should be viewed by all environmentalists and government leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has been vocal about his commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the state. However, some of his recent actions of \u201cleaking\u201d emissions to other countries violate many sections of the written legal framework of The\u00a0California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32)<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hear much about reparations for descendants of American slaves, but little about reparations for Native Americans, and zilch about compensating these modern-day slaves in developing countries like those in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa that holds 72 percent of the world\u2019s known supplies of cobalt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The silence is deafening\u00a0from billionaires<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0like\u00a0Bill Gates<\/strong><\/a>, John Kerry,\u00a0Mark Zuckerberg, George Soros, Michael Bloomberg, and President Biden. Through the encouragement of\u00a0tax incentives and subsidies to go to EV\u2019s and electricity from wind and solar, they are providing financial\u00a0<\/a>incentives to China, who already controls the supply chain for the minerals and metals to go green, furthering our total dependence on China to achieve the green goals of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With\u00a0demographics of EV owners<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0predominantly middle-aged white men earning more than $100,000 per year, Social Security shows that the\u00a0national average wage index<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for 2021 is only $60,575 ($40,000 less than the average EV owner). US News recently reported that\u00a0more than 60 percent of adults are living from paycheck to paycheck<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and that 48 percent of Americans with annual incomes over $100,000 are also living paycheck to paycheck. As U.S. consumers struggle to afford their day-to-day lifestyle, many are relying on credit cards or dipping into savings, making them financially vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides the affordability of ANY new car, ICE or EV, is it ethical and morally responsible to purchase an EV knowing where the supply chain of EV battery materials originates?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those that are less fortunate in poorer developing countries are the ones mining for exotic minerals and metals to support the movement in wealthy countries to EV\u2019s and intermittent electricity from wind and solar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wealthy country elites continue to demonstrate their lack of ethical, moral, and social responsibilities, by using subsidies that encourage the continued exploitations of people with yellow, brown, and black skin and the environmental degradation occurring \u201celsewhere\u201d, out of view of those living in wealthy countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ronald Stein, P.E.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ambassador for Energy & Infrastructure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Energy Literacy website\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ronald Stein (energy consultant) Wikipedia page<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Global cobalt demand soared with the advent of cell phones and laptop computers. Cobalt\u00a0improves battery performance, extends driving range and reduces fire risks. Now, cobalt, lithium, and other materials are exploding with the arrival of electric vehicles in tandem with government EV mandates and subsidies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":275257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691821527,691818102,691818076,691818265,691818740,691818266,691818154],"class_list":["post-275248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-child-labor","tag-climate-crisis","tag-co2","tag-cobalt","tag-ev-batteries","tag-lithium","tag-net-zero","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00Siddharth-Kara-1.webp?fit=2048%2C1536&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-19Bu","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":278528,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=278528","url_meta":{"origin":275248,"position":0},"title":"US Turns To Country Notorious For Child Labor And Unsafe Mines To Source Its EV Ambitions","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/13\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In order to facilitate electric vehicle (EV) production, the U.S. is seeking to spend taxpayer dollars to develop cobalt supply chains from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a country which is known for high prevalence of unsafe child labor in its mines, many of which are controlled by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"child labor\"","block_context":{"text":"child labor","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=child-labor"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0827aca4d-6e0b-4e76-9b8a-61f1e80ad9ff_1088x870.jpg?fit=1088%2C870&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0827aca4d-6e0b-4e76-9b8a-61f1e80ad9ff_1088x870.jpg?fit=1088%2C870&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0827aca4d-6e0b-4e76-9b8a-61f1e80ad9ff_1088x870.jpg?fit=1088%2C870&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0827aca4d-6e0b-4e76-9b8a-61f1e80ad9ff_1088x870.jpg?fit=1088%2C870&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0827aca4d-6e0b-4e76-9b8a-61f1e80ad9ff_1088x870.jpg?fit=1088%2C870&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":343367,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=343367","url_meta":{"origin":275248,"position":1},"title":"The environmental downside of electric vehicles","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/16\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"At one time, \u201cSaving the Environment\u201d and \u201cFighting Climate Change\u201d were synonymous. That is no longer true. The quest for Clean Energy through electric vehicles (EVs) epitomizes \u201cthe end justifies the means.\u201d According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), an electric vehicle requires six times the mineral inputs of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"clean energy\"","block_context":{"text":"clean energy","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=clean-energy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/OIG-74.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/OIG-74.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/OIG-74.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/OIG-74.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":377633,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=377633","url_meta":{"origin":275248,"position":2},"title":"The good, the bad, and the ugly of electric vehicles","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/08\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Electric vehicles are being mandated in California, but Governor Newsom is oblivious to the fact that it\u2019s just another product that cannot exist without oil, as all the\u00a0thousands of parts and components\u00a0of EVs, from tires, insulation, and computers, are made from the oil derivatives manufactured out of crude oil.","rel":"","context":"In \"\u201cgreen\u201d policies\"","block_context":{"text":"\u201cgreen\u201d policies","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=green-policies-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0Electric-vehicle-charging-man-suit.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0Electric-vehicle-charging-man-suit.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0Electric-vehicle-charging-man-suit.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0Electric-vehicle-charging-man-suit.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0Electric-vehicle-charging-man-suit.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":246888,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=246888","url_meta":{"origin":275248,"position":3},"title":"Climate Child labor- Who cares?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The ruling class, powerful elite, and the media lack some energy literacy which may be the reasons they avoid conversations about the ugly side of \u201cgreen\u201d mandates and subsidies.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/0cobalt-photo-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/0cobalt-photo-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/0cobalt-photo-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/0cobalt-photo-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/0cobalt-photo-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":323590,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=323590","url_meta":{"origin":275248,"position":4},"title":"Environmentalists silent on human and environmental atrocities","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/26\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"While wind and solar do not emit carbon dioxide, there are substantial environmental degradation and human atrocities\u00a0occurring in China, Africa, Turkey, Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. The materials for EV batteries and to produce electricity from wind turbines and solar panels require large-scale mining of critical minerals and metals, many of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cobalt and rare earths\"","block_context":{"text":"cobalt and rare earths","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=cobalt-and-rare-earths"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/OIG-42.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/OIG-42.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/OIG-42.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/OIG-42.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":237426,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=237426","url_meta":{"origin":275248,"position":5},"title":"The disturbing reality of cobalt mining for rechargeable batteries","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/02\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Cobalt is a mined mineral needed for all rechargeable batteries including phones, pads, laptops and Electric Vehicles (EV\u2019s). 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