This is not a new story by any means — we covered it ourselves a year ago — but it’s one that’s never really gotten traction. Hopefully that changes soon as it’s freaking disgusting what companies are doing to earn a “green” label:
A CNN investigation has found that child labor is still being used to mine cobalt at some operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This country produces about two-thirds of the mineral and is estimated to sit atop half of the globe's reserves. https://t.co/V2wrEGVh8P pic.twitter.com/KbmPcknjJy
— CNN International (@cnni) May 1, 2018
CNN writes that companies can’t prove if the cobalt they use is being mined by children, but that doesn’t seem to bother them, or U.S. “green” consumers:
Companies profiting from the clean energy revolution have a problem. They can’t prove that children aren’t involved in their supply chains https://t.co/Q2aQ4aArOT
— CNN International (@cnni) May 1, 2018
This links to a multimedia presentation that highlights what’s going on, including this child getting smacked by an official while carrying a bag of cobalt:
Cobalt is important as it’s at the heart of the electric car market: “Who rules cobalt commands the value chain; who rules the value chain commands the electric car market; who rules the electric car market commands the world.”
Who rules cobalt commands the value chain; who rules the value chain commands the electric car market; who rules the electric car market commands the world. pic.twitter.com/bV82cNmAnr
— Bruno Maçães (@MacaesBruno) April 28, 2018
Keep that photo above in mind the next time you hear someone telling you how awesome their “green” car is for the planet:
Sure, your electric car is green. But is it ethical? https://t.co/JMfmvGV7V9
— CNN International (@cnni) May 1, 2018
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Or anything else with a lithium-ion battery in it, for that matter:
Is there child labour in your phone? Building on investigations by @amnesty over the past two years, @CNN reveal that children in the DRC are still being used to mine the cobalt that could be powering our mobile phoneshttps://t.co/K8evdKjZqH
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) May 1, 2018
We should note that Elon Musk and Tesla do not buy cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo. From InsideEVs:
That said, Tesla was spared: “the company [Tesla] is not named in the report because its main battery cell supplier, Panasonic, sources its cobalt from the Philippines and not Congo.”
Now, it appears (via Bloomberg) that Tesla also has access to cobalt in Canada. “Call it a cobalt rush in Cobalt… both the town and the metal, are attracting renewed attention as a buffer to rising political risks in the Democratic Republic of Congo”
Wake up, world because this can’t continue.
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This is the future liberals want: Cars powered by CHILD LABOR instead of gasoline https://t.co/Qo7arI1Zbr
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 11, 2017
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