{"id":365491,"date":"2025-02-09T09:27:55","date_gmt":"2025-02-09T08:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=365491"},"modified":"2025-02-09T09:27:57","modified_gmt":"2025-02-09T08:27:57","slug":"there-is-nothing-green-about-the-green-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=365491","title":{"rendered":"There Is Nothing Green About the \u2018Green\u2019 Agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Artisanal miners carry sacks of ore at the Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi on October 12, 2022. – Some 20,000 people work at Shabara, in shifts of 5,000 at a time.\nCongo produced 72 percent of the worlds cobalt last year, according to Darton Commodities. And demand for the metal is exploding due to its use in the rechargeable batteries that power mobile phones and electric cars.\nBut the countrys poorly regulated artisanal mines, which produce a small but not-negligeable percentage of its total output, have tarnished the image of Congolese cobalt. (Photo by Junior KANNAH \/ AFP) (Photo by JUNIOR KANNAH\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

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

By Steve Milloy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that the Democrats have lost their lock grip on power, what\u2019s a green activist to do? It\u2019s almost comical how the climate left is trying to cloak their agenda in terms they think will melt in Republicans\u2019 ears. For example, Jennifer Granholm, energy secretary in the Biden administration recently penned an opinion piece<\/a> arguing that President Trump is playing right into Communist China\u2019s evil hands by killing off America\u2019s green economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translation: The left is furious that Trump has halted the flow of billions of taxpayers\u2019 dollars to subsidize electric vehicles that nobody wants and only the well-off can afford. The new president is killing the \u201cgreen economy,\u201d as Granholm puts it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing green about the climate left\u2019s solutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the climate movement was truly sincere and intellectually honest in its desire to stop actions contributing to global environmental degradation, it would stand fast against solar panels and electric vehicles. There is nothing green about the climate left\u2019s solutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing environmentally friendly about using enslaved children<\/a> in the Congo to mine cobalt for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries used in EVs. They labor with crude tools and bare hands, breathing in cobalt\u2019s toxic dust in cramped pits. Runoff infused with cobalt and other chemicals contaminate the water supply. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, green activists sit blithely unaware or unconcerned in the comfort of their own homes. They are saving the world, they smugly assure themselves, while children suffer in an environmental hellhole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Far removed from U.S. environmental standards, Indonesia is the center of mining and refining nickel<\/a>, an essential component in EV batteries. Pea soup-thick brown emissions shroud nickel smelting operations in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi as well as the coal-fired plants that fuel them. Processing waste and chemicals potentially leach into the ground. Dust residue from both ubiquitously blanket nearby communities, while waterways tainted by mining operations have red cast. Whatever else climate activists may try to tell us, there is nothing green going on here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Brazil, near the mouth of the Amazon River, a factory refines bauxite into what eventually becomes aluminum. It had been the source of aluminum in the Ford F-150 Lightening, the company\u2019s now cancelled all-electric pickup truck. A lawsuit alleges that toxic elements, including aluminum and other heavy metals<\/a> emanating from the refinery, have been responsible for cancer, birth defects, neurological dysfunction, digestive disorders, skin conditions, and increased mortality. How can an EV be called green or good for the environment when it\u2019s making thousands of Brazilians sick?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere in Brazil this past Christmas season, Brazilian authorities shuttered construction of an EV factory when it was discovered that its builders were working under \u201cslavery<\/a>\u201d-like conditions. How is that a green virtue? Perhaps green dogma holds that human worth and dignity are small sacrifices that must be made for the common good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solar energy, long the prize pig of the climate crowd, isn\u2019t green either. The fact that destroying forest land for solar arrays is bad for the environment should be obvious. Studies have found<\/a> \u201cthe loss of carbon-dioxide gobbling forests for solar installations results in a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d Nor should wind farms be considered remotely green when wildlife is being killed and habitats are being disrupted. The same is true offshore, with a number of whale deaths associated with mammoth wind operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same folks pushing \u201cgreen\u201d have been disingenuous from the start<\/a>. In 1970, they assured us that human activity would cause an ice age by the 21st<\/sup> century and that we\u2019d be under food rationing by 1980. Acid rain was a crisis until it wasn\u2019t. Then global warming became the crisis, with much of New York City to be underwater by 2019. In 2008, Al Gore prophesized that the North polar cap would be gone in five years. It wasn\u2019t. In 2009, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown proclaimed,\u201d We have fewer than 50 days to save our planet from catastrophe. Spoiler alert: We\u2019re still here and thriving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their seemingly endless lies have been accompanied by Orwellian word games, moving from \u201cglobal warming\u201d to \u201cchange.\u201d Now the Newspeak<\/a> has shifted to \u201cextreme weather and \u201coverheating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is there is no green energy. No energy is clean. No energy is dirty. There are only challenges, solutions and tradeoffs. At the time of already high energy costs, choosing reliable, fossil fuel-backed energy is of paramount importance. Word sophistry from our friends on the left won\u2019t change that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Milloy is a Senior Fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute and former member of the Trump EPA Transition Team.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Now that the Democrats have lost their lock grip on power, what\u2019s a green activist to do? It\u2019s almost comical how the climate left is trying to cloak their agenda in terms they think will melt in Republicans\u2019 ears. For example, Jennifer Granholm, energy secretary in the Biden administration recently penned an\u00a0opinion piece\u00a0arguing that President Trump is playing right into Communist China\u2019s evil hands by killing off America\u2019s green economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":365493,"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":[691818336,691828406,691819262,691827347,691818118,691819013,691831255],"class_list":["post-365491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-biden-administration","tag-electric-vehicles-evs-2","tag-green-agenda","tag-green-economy","tag-green-energy","tag-mining","tag-us-president-donald-trump","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0Congo-1_Getty-Small.jpg?fit=1600%2C901&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1x51","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":278528,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=278528","url_meta":{"origin":365491,"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, 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push.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-158.png?fit=1132%2C637&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-158.png?fit=1132%2C637&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-158.png?fit=1132%2C637&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-158.png?fit=1132%2C637&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image-158.png?fit=1132%2C637&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":257807,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=257807","url_meta":{"origin":365491,"position":2},"title":"Mining Of Cobalt for Electric Vehicle Batteries: THE SOCIAL IMPACTS","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/17\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Of these, the mining and processing of cobalt has attracted the most recent media attention because of the adverse social and environmental impacts. The purpose of this article is to shed more light on the nature of the social impacts.","rel":"","context":"In \"China\"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=china"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0Mining-Colbalt-DRC-Child-Labor-10-30-20.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0Mining-Colbalt-DRC-Child-Labor-10-30-20.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0Mining-Colbalt-DRC-Child-Labor-10-30-20.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0Mining-Colbalt-DRC-Child-Labor-10-30-20.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/0Mining-Colbalt-DRC-Child-Labor-10-30-20.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":270917,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=270917","url_meta":{"origin":365491,"position":3},"title":"Cobalt Carnage, Child Labor and Ecological Destruction","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/01\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Global cobalt demand soared with the advent of cell phones and laptop computers. It exploded with the arrival of electric vehicles and now is skyrocketing in tandem with government EV mandates and subsidies. Cobalt\u00a0improves battery performance, extends driving range and reduces fire risks.","rel":"","context":"In \"Biden Administration\"","block_context":{"text":"Biden Administration","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=biden-administration"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0Siddharth-Kara-1-1.webp?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0Siddharth-Kara-1-1.webp?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0Siddharth-Kara-1-1.webp?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0Siddharth-Kara-1-1.webp?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0Siddharth-Kara-1-1.webp?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":246888,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=246888","url_meta":{"origin":365491,"position":4},"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":289228,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=289228","url_meta":{"origin":365491,"position":5},"title":"Biden\u2019s EV Boondoggle Enriches\u00a0Himself","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"11\/29\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"green plant leaves growing on coin stacking money saving business finance success wealth investment budget concept. stack coin on wood table with green blur background. From Science Matters By\u00a0Ron Clutz The Greenest thing about the New Green Deal is the Money. The spending on \u201cGreen Energy Projects\u201d is enormous and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Electric Vehicle Subsidies\"","block_context":{"text":"Electric Vehicle Subsidies","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=electric-vehicle-subsidies"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/0GettyImages-1151815644.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/0GettyImages-1151815644.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/0GettyImages-1151815644.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/0GettyImages-1151815644.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/0GettyImages-1151815644.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=365491"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":365495,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365491\/revisions\/365495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/365493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=365491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=365491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=365491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}