Electric Car Batteries Are Turning This Country Into an Actual Hellscape:
As the demand for gadgets and electric cars grows, so too are the mining operations that dig up cobalt to use in lithium-ion batteries.
And that's become a serious problem for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The New Yorker reports, which sits atop about 3.4 million metric tons of the stuff — half of the entire planet's supply. A massive, gold rush-like mining industry was born after residents in poverty-stricken areas discovered ore deposits under their homes. But now, many are finding that digging up the valuable mineral has failed to lift them out of poverty. And meanwhile, dangerous conditions are killing miners as exposure to the metal is poisoning both people and the environment.
A lack of regulations and enforcement over the mines has resulted in the miners, who risk their health and safety for financial security, being exploited by officials and traders who are unscrupulously lining their own pockets, according to The New Yorker. One miner told the publication that he now struggles to pay his $25 monthly rent even as the value of cobalt continues to soar — and the only alternative was to work at a major corporation's mine for considerably less money.
Meanwhile, thousands of children have been put to work as well, according to The New Yorker, some of whom say they can't remember the last time they could afford a meal. In order to keep them working, the kids are often even drugged with appetite suppressors.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday June 08 2021, @02:33AM (1 child)
And all of the non-primitive (and not imported) sub-Saharan writing systems invented in modern times, mostly in the last century. What does that tell you??
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 08 2021, @04:34AM
It tells me that given the time, opportunity, and motivation, most people will try to improve their lot in life. Most of Africa still has a long way to go but those are steps in the right direction. That despite the current crapfest there is hope for their future. Then I look at what is happening here in the West and despair.