Will the minerals needed for electric car production come from the U. S . or (more likely) overseas? Maxine Joselow writes in the Washington Post: “Prices of key minerals are skyrocketing amid the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, potentially increasing the cost of electric vehicles and other technologies crucial to the clean energy transition….
Tag: mining
Stretching ‘Sustainable’ Investing Far Beyond ‘Green’
The push for ESG (environmental, sustainable, and governance) investing has gone to extreme lengths, reports the Wall Street Journal (the story is behind a paywall). “Now billions of dollars earmarked for sustainable investment are going to companies with questionable environmental credentials and, in some cases, huge business risks,” write Justin Scheck, Eliot Brown, and Ben…
More Evidence of Forced Labor in China and Africa for ‘Green’ Energy
Reports from Sheffield Hallam University in England and the International Energy Agency strengthen the case that China is forcing its minority Uighur population to produce solar panels. Meanwhile, children as young as seven years old are mining for cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under dangerous conditions; the mined cobalt is processed in…
Sorry, Miners, You Won’t Benefit from Demand for EV Minerals
Joe Biden has reversed a campaign promise, says Reuters in an exclusive article. The Biden administration opposes opening U. S. mines for minerals like nickel, cobalt, and lithium—minerals needed for electric vehicles. Biden is looking to Canada, Australia, and Brazil to supply these metals. “The plans will be a blow to U.S. miners who had…
Does Solar Energy Depend on Forced Labor in China?
The evidence is increasing that the rare-earth minerals used in solar panels may be produced by forced labor. Most of the minerals come from Xinjiang, the area where China is known to be persecuting the Muslim Uygurs. Phred Dvorak and Matthew Dalton write in the Wall Street Journal (behind a paywall): “About half the world’s…