Shooby
Senior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2013 0:32:36 GMT -5
Posts: 14,782
Mini-Profile Name Color: 1cf04f
|
Post by Shooby on Aug 6, 2017 7:12:00 GMT -5
Picking through a mountain of huge rocks with his tiny bare hands, the exhausted little boy makes a pitiful sight. His name is Dorsen and he is one of an army of children, some just four years old, working in the vast polluted mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where toxic red dust burns their eyes, and they run the risk of skin disease and a deadly lung condition. Here, for a wage of just 8p a day, the children are made to check the rocks for the tell-tale chocolate-brown streaks of cobalt – the prized ingredient essential for the batteries that power electric cars. And it’s feared that thousands more children could be about to be dragged into this hellish daily existence – after the historic pledge made by Britain to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2040 and switch to electric vehicles. Dorsen, just eight, is one of 40,000 children working daily in the mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The terrible price they will pay for our clean air is ruined health and a likely early death. Almost every big motor manufacturer striving to produce millions of electric vehicles buys its cobalt from the impoverished central African state. It is the world’s biggest producer, with 60 per cent of the planet’s reserves. The cobalt is mined by unregulated labour and transported to Asia where battery manufacturers use it to make their products lighter, longer-lasting and rechargeable. The planned switch to clean energy vehicles has led to an extraordinary surge in demand. While a smartphone battery uses no more than 10 grams of refined cobalt, an electric car needs 15kg (33lb). www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4764208/Child-miners-aged-four-living-hell-Earth.html
|
|
zibazinski
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 24, 2010 16:12:50 GMT -5
Posts: 47,861
|
Post by zibazinski on Aug 6, 2017 7:54:34 GMT -5
Ugh
|
|
billisonboard
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 22:45:44 GMT -5
Posts: 37,386
|
Post by billisonboard on Aug 6, 2017 8:11:46 GMT -5
Selective outrage? Large parts of the rest of the world has long been exploited to provide us our lifestyle.
|
|
Shooby
Senior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2013 0:32:36 GMT -5
Posts: 14,782
Mini-Profile Name Color: 1cf04f
|
Post by Shooby on Aug 6, 2017 8:13:32 GMT -5
Selective outrage? Large parts of the rest of the world has long been exploited to provide us our lifestyle. Are you going to deflect or stay on point?
|
|
NoNamePerson
Distinguished Associate
Is There Anybody OUT There?
Joined: Dec 17, 2010 17:03:17 GMT -5
Posts: 25,594
Location: WITNESS PROTECTION
|
Post by NoNamePerson on Aug 6, 2017 8:23:26 GMT -5
Selective outrage? Large parts of the rest of the world has long been exploited to provide us our lifestyle. Truer words were never spoken. I don't wear nikes, reboks, knowingly purchase any products owned Tyson, Smithfield. Just my own little protest. But can't rule out everything but I do what I can in my own little way.
I guess they only other answer to this is maybe we should invade the country and put a stop to this now or don't drive electric cars?
|
|
Tennesseer
Member Emeritus
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 21:58:42 GMT -5
Posts: 63,129
|
Post by Tennesseer on Aug 6, 2017 8:25:20 GMT -5
|
|
billisonboard
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 22:45:44 GMT -5
Posts: 37,386
|
Post by billisonboard on Aug 6, 2017 8:35:30 GMT -5
Selective outrage? Large parts of the rest of the world has long been exploited to provide us our lifestyle. Are you going to deflect or stay on point? Sorry. Thought the point was that it is horrible that children are being used to provide the raw materials to provide something we want. I was just pointing out it has been going on a long time in many different configurations. I don't have a solution to the problem. I just think it is disingenuous to use it as an argument in one manifestation and not in all.
|
|
Shooby
Senior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2013 0:32:36 GMT -5
Posts: 14,782
Mini-Profile Name Color: 1cf04f
|
Post by Shooby on Aug 6, 2017 9:06:43 GMT -5
I think the notion that "clean energy" is somehow devoid of the problems of any other kind of energy is very juvenile and childish. Using any other form on a mass scale is going to have consequences. However, I guess I don't understand what is so "unnatural" about coal, oil, natural gas, etc. It's just as "natural" as mining this stuff. Uh huh.
|
|
tallguy
Senior Associate
Joined: Apr 2, 2011 19:21:59 GMT -5
Posts: 14,107
|
Post by tallguy on Aug 6, 2017 9:14:14 GMT -5
It sure is wonderful that we have a government that actively works to ensure things like child labor laws, safety for workers, environmental protections, and the like, isn't it? Oh, wait. That one got voted out by those supporting "American values." Never mind.
|
|
Shooby
Senior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2013 0:32:36 GMT -5
Posts: 14,782
Mini-Profile Name Color: 1cf04f
|
Post by Shooby on Aug 6, 2017 9:16:20 GMT -5
The Congo is now under American Govt? Good to know!
|
|
tallguy
Senior Associate
Joined: Apr 2, 2011 19:21:59 GMT -5
Posts: 14,107
|
Post by tallguy on Aug 6, 2017 9:18:49 GMT -5
Whoosh!!!!
|
|
weltschmerz
Community Leader
Joined: Jul 25, 2011 13:37:39 GMT -5
Posts: 38,962
|
Post by weltschmerz on Aug 6, 2017 9:55:41 GMT -5
Picking through a mountain of huge rocks with his tiny bare hands, the exhausted little boy makes a pitiful sight. His name is Dorsen and he is one of an army of children, some just four years old, working in the vast polluted mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where toxic red dust burns their eyes, and they run the risk of skin disease and a deadly lung condition. Here, for a wage of just 8p a day, the children are made to check the rocks for the tell-tale chocolate-brown streaks of cobalt – the prized ingredient essential for the batteries that power electric cars. And it’s feared that thousands more children could be about to be dragged into this hellish daily existence – after the historic pledge made by Britain to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2040 and switch to electric vehicles. Dorsen, just eight, is one of 40,000 children working daily in the mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The terrible price they will pay for our clean air is ruined health and a likely early death. Almost every big motor manufacturer striving to produce millions of electric vehicles buys its cobalt from the impoverished central African state. It is the world’s biggest producer, with 60 per cent of the planet’s reserves. The cobalt is mined by unregulated labour and transported to Asia where battery manufacturers use it to make their products lighter, longer-lasting and rechargeable. The planned switch to clean energy vehicles has led to an extraordinary surge in demand. While a smartphone battery uses no more than 10 grams of refined cobalt, an electric car needs 15kg (33lb). www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4764208/Child-miners-aged-four-living-hell-Earth.htmlDo you have a cellphone, Shooby? Why, I believe you do! So, stop with the "holier than thou". Children as young as seven mining cobalt used in smartphones, says Amnesty www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jan/19/children-as-young-as-seven-mining-cobalt-for-use-in-smartphones-says-amnesty
|
|
Shooby
Senior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2013 0:32:36 GMT -5
Posts: 14,782
Mini-Profile Name Color: 1cf04f
|
Post by Shooby on Aug 6, 2017 10:03:08 GMT -5
Of course I have a cell phone. I am not running around whining about oil, gas and coal, lol. The question is do YOU have a cell phone? If so then maybe your outrage over diamonds is a bit misplaced. Just saying.
|
|
weltschmerz
Community Leader
Joined: Jul 25, 2011 13:37:39 GMT -5
Posts: 38,962
|
Post by weltschmerz on Aug 6, 2017 10:08:48 GMT -5
|
|
billisonboard
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 22:45:44 GMT -5
Posts: 37,386
|
Post by billisonboard on Aug 6, 2017 10:13:46 GMT -5
This is a debate that comes up around green energy and the environment in Oregon sometimes because a lot of environmental policies only look at local effects. So, is it a win to shut down a pipeline or mine in the U.S. that will be opened and run in other parts of the world in a much dirtier and harsher fashion? Does it make sense to limit development in temperate climates when it encourages development in places that require much more energy? Is the idea, "Governmental entities in the United States should make global interests their top priority"?
|
|
weltschmerz
Community Leader
Joined: Jul 25, 2011 13:37:39 GMT -5
Posts: 38,962
|
Post by weltschmerz on Aug 6, 2017 10:24:20 GMT -5
|
|
Shooby
Senior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2013 0:32:36 GMT -5
Posts: 14,782
Mini-Profile Name Color: 1cf04f
|
Post by Shooby on Aug 6, 2017 10:28:24 GMT -5
Of course i drink coffee. I am not wearing ribbons or trying to get other people to stop driving suvs or use paper instead of plastic or buy conflict free diamonds.
|
|
weltschmerz
Community Leader
Joined: Jul 25, 2011 13:37:39 GMT -5
Posts: 38,962
|
Post by weltschmerz on Aug 6, 2017 10:30:46 GMT -5
Of course i drink coffee. I am not wearing ribbons or trying to get other people to stop driving suvs or use paper instead of plastic or buy conflict free diamonds. So, I guess that means you're OK with child slavery and forced labour?
|
|
Shooby
Senior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2013 0:32:36 GMT -5
Posts: 14,782
Mini-Profile Name Color: 1cf04f
|
Post by Shooby on Aug 6, 2017 10:31:55 GMT -5
I guess that means you are too since u have a cell phone and support "alternate energy" like electric cars. Lol
|
|
chiver78
Administrator
Current Events Admin
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 13:04:45 GMT -5
Posts: 38,388
|
Post by chiver78 on Aug 6, 2017 10:34:18 GMT -5
so with all that said, shooby. what was your point in starting this thread?
|
|
weltschmerz
Community Leader
Joined: Jul 25, 2011 13:37:39 GMT -5
Posts: 38,962
|
Post by weltschmerz on Aug 6, 2017 10:35:47 GMT -5
so with all that said, shooby. what was your point in starting this thread? Her point was to attack people who drive electric cars.
|
|
Shooby
Senior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2013 0:32:36 GMT -5
Posts: 14,782
Mini-Profile Name Color: 1cf04f
|
Post by Shooby on Aug 6, 2017 10:40:46 GMT -5
I think the notion that "clean energy" is somehow devoid of the problems of any other kind of energy is very juvenile and childish. Using any other form on a mass scale is going to have consequences. However, I guess I don't understand what is so "unnatural" about coal, oil, natural gas, etc. It's just as "natural" as mining this stuff. Uh huh. This was my point. But is there a rule now about listing one's point because i certainly don't see that on other threads.
|
|
chiver78
Administrator
Current Events Admin
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 13:04:45 GMT -5
Posts: 38,388
|
Post by chiver78 on Aug 6, 2017 10:42:24 GMT -5
so with all that said, shooby. what was your point in starting this thread? Her point was to attack people who drive electric cars. oh I know. I'm just trying to see if she'll admit it to herself.
|
|
Shooby
Senior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2013 0:32:36 GMT -5
Posts: 14,782
Mini-Profile Name Color: 1cf04f
|
Post by Shooby on Aug 6, 2017 10:43:03 GMT -5
My point isnt attacking drivers of electric cars. My point is pointing out that those who attack people who support fossil fuels need to look in their own mirrors
|
|
Shooby
Senior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2013 0:32:36 GMT -5
Posts: 14,782
Mini-Profile Name Color: 1cf04f
|
Post by Shooby on Aug 6, 2017 10:43:58 GMT -5
Or , we can just pretend gas cars Bad, electri cars Good.
|
|
weltschmerz
Community Leader
Joined: Jul 25, 2011 13:37:39 GMT -5
Posts: 38,962
|
Post by weltschmerz on Aug 6, 2017 10:45:13 GMT -5
I think the notion that "clean energy" is somehow devoid of the problems of any other kind of energy is very juvenile and childish. Using any other form on a mass scale is going to have consequences. However, I guess I don't understand what is so "unnatural" about coal, oil, natural gas, etc. It's just as "natural" as mining this stuff. Uh huh. You should have a nice tall drink of arsenic, from a cup made out of asbestos. That's also natural. If it's natural, it must be good, right?
|
|
Shooby
Senior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2013 0:32:36 GMT -5
Posts: 14,782
Mini-Profile Name Color: 1cf04f
|
Post by Shooby on Aug 6, 2017 10:52:06 GMT -5
Shaken over ice please.
|
|
billisonboard
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 22:45:44 GMT -5
Posts: 37,386
|
Post by billisonboard on Aug 6, 2017 10:57:10 GMT -5
Is the idea, "Governmental entities in the United States should make global interests their top priority"? No, the question is whether something is a net environmental good as opposed to something that makes your location nicer. Some policies are sold as better for the environment when it just shifts costs. So some policies should be sold as a net global environmental bad but necessary as they keep our city/state/nation nicer?
|
|
swamp
Community Leader
Don't be a fool. Call me!
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 16:03:22 GMT -5
Posts: 45,295
|
Post by swamp on Aug 6, 2017 13:38:47 GMT -5
And Trump ties are made in Bangladesh, known to use children in sweatshops.
|
|
weltschmerz
Community Leader
Joined: Jul 25, 2011 13:37:39 GMT -5
Posts: 38,962
|
Post by weltschmerz on Aug 6, 2017 13:51:18 GMT -5
I noticed you didn't answer. Are you claiming that "natural" equals "good"?
|
|