Increasing production of electric vehicles is boosting demand for the cobalt used in batteries. Forty thousand children mine cobalt for up to 12 hours a day under dangerous conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the United Nations. A Republican congressman, Pete Stauber of Minnesota, proposed an amendment to the giant infrastructure…
Category: The Environmental Blog
Democrats’ Plan Would Kill Endangered Birds
The Democrats recently announced a major climate change plan to be adopted if they win Congress in the fall. They want “net-zero” carbon emissions by 2050, which would require heavy investment in renewable energy. But their plan would kill endangered species and waste millions of acres of land, says Michael Shellenberger, writing in Forbes. “There…
What’s the Story on Green Investments?
“Green” investments and “green” bonds are here, but they are controversial. Clemson economist Bruce Yandle suggests in Regulation that libertarians and conservatives are understandably worried about the impact of the “soft regulatory power” that is being applied to companies—or threatening to do so. The world’s biggest fund manager, BlackRock, says it will consider the environmental…
Will Facebook Cave In?
A group of 15 activists, including two former EPA administrators, is asking Facebook to censor the writing of the CO2 Coalition. In a July 1 letter to the co-chairman of the Facebook Oversight committee, the group, Climate Power 2020, says: “Facebook is allowing the spread of climate misinformation to flourish, unchecked, across the globe.” Instead…
Monday’s Links: Suing Exxon (Again). . . Changing Cities. . . Nuclear Power
Minnesota AG sues Exxon, Koch, and Petroleum Institute over climate change. (Shifting attention maybe?) Climate activities must adopt nuclear power, says Michael Shellenberger in Quillette. City Journal tells us how the urban environment will change. Think: decaying malls. High-flying shale oil company seeks bankruptcy. protection.
The Pandemic and Trophy Hunting
Fear that the coronavirus pandemic came from wild animals has evoked calls for greater limits on trade in wildlife. But Catherine Semcer of PERC (the Property and Environment Research Center), in a thorough discussion of the issue, says that the coronavirus did not come from legal trade in wildlife and warns against further restricting trophy…