"A ticking time bomb that can explode at any time", as EVs surge, so does nickel mining’s death toll
restofworld.org
Chinese demand for nickel, an important ingredient in EV batteries, has triggered a mining boom in the remote regions of Indonesia. The country has signed over a dozen deals worth more than $15 billion with suppliers for EV giants like Tesla and Hyundai Motor, but deaths and injuries from industrial accidents have been racking up.
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The cost of mining for electric vehicle battery raw materials is sometimes called "eco-colonialism." Ultimately, I do think EVs will have a significant place in the solution to the climate crisis, but MORE significant will be walkable neighborhoods and robust transit systems
Yeah at the end of the day the whole idea of every single person owning a one ton chunk of steel and rare earth metals just to avoid taking the bus or walking a couple of kilometres is unsustainable and incompatible with the continued survival of our society (and maybe even our species).
It would be nice to have walkable neighborhoods and robust transit but keep in mind that the whole of the southern US has been experiencing 100 degree weather for 2 months. That can be dangerous for children and elderly waiting for transit or attempting to walk to their destination. It's not as cut and dry a solution as people make it out to be.
Or the fact that a lot of people don’t like to live on top of each other, or that a lot of people have to live not in cities to enable city life.
It’s almost as if people think produce magically appears in the store shelves.
But it’s 2023 - we should be able to mine ore responsibly, not keep digging like it’s 1903.
Because people are so disconnected from the actual logistics of getting shit done. They live in fantasy where they believe turning an entire state into a vegan hippie commune is totally viable. That's why communities like fuck_cars exist and are filled with self-righteous idealists that, yes, probably live in cities and don't understand how shit works in the world outside of public transportation and bicycles.