The Exploitation of Green Energy
By Paul Homewood
From The Washington Times:
Wealth, with no ethical or moral standards for those of lesser means, can be dangerous and fatal to the cheap labor of disposable workforces.
We have seen the effects on the disposable workforce when Qatar “needed” to build seven stadiums in a decade to be ready for the 2022 World Cup. The World Cup in Qatar kicked off on Nov. 20 at Al Bayt Stadium, but the “acceptable” toll of more than 6,500 migrant laborers who died between 2011 and 2020, helping to build World Cup infrastructure with a cheap, disposable workforce, will provide viewers and participants with many lingering questions about our ethical and moral beliefs resulting from the grim toll.
Decades ago, it was sweatshops in the textile industry that grabbed the world’s humanitarian attention. Today it is the green movement, which is dominated by poorer developing countries mining the exotic minerals and metals that support the wealthy countries that are going green at a great cost to humanity.
The wealthy countries understand that developing countries have virtually no environmental laws or labor laws, which allows those locations unlimited opportunities to exploit people with yellow, brown and black skin and inflict environmental degradation on their landscapes.
Showing no moral or ethical concerns for the disposable workforce, wealthy countries continue to encourage subsidies to procure electric vehicles and build more wind and solar energy infrastructure. Those subsidies are providing financial incentives to the developing countries mining for those green materials to continue their exploitation of poor people and environmental degradation of their landscapes.
The 2021 Pulitzer Prize-nominated book “Clean Energy Exploitations” reveals the lack of transparency regarding the green movement’s impact on humanity. Exploitation is occurring in developing countries that are mining the exotic minerals and metals required to create the batteries needed to store “green energy.” In these developing countries, mining operations exploit child labor and are responsible for egregious human rights violations of vulnerable minority populations. These operations are also directly destroying the planet through environmental degradation.
Last month, President Biden provided validation to the book’s message when his administration declared that batteries from China may be tainted by child labor, a move that could upend the electric vehicle industry while giving fresh ammunition to critics of the White House’s bizarre climate policies.
The Department of Labor said it would add lithium-ion batteries to a list of goods made with materials known to be produced with child or forced labor under a 2006 human trafficking law. The decision was based on many batteries using cobalt, a mineral largely mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where children have been found to work at some mining sites. The department released the list in the form of a report that excoriated “clean energy” supply chains for using forced labor. It grouped Chinese batteries together with polysilicon — a key material used in solar panel cells — made in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.
Whatever the plan to satisfy our sports entertainment values and “green” environmental policies, our political leaders best not forget that they have ethical and moral responsibilities to continue to address the quality-of-life needs of those 8 billion on this planet now.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
If we didn’t have EVs, kids in Congo would be fine.
I presume that’s sarcasm? If they weren’t in the mines, they be sex trafficked, doing worse labour somewhere else or starving. They wouldn’t be at a lovely school riding unicorns.
Perhaps if they were permitted access to affordable energy their options would improve.
Correct, Phoenix. This is the Washington Times playing the Ugly American, telling other people how they should be living.
Green is often associated with toxic substances.
Also naivety and inexperience.
https://mymodernmet.com/history-of-the-color-green/
Good link, thanks. I recall the little rhyme:
“The goat that reeks on yonder hill,
browses all day on chlorophyll.”
Perhaps manufacturers could introduce a scheme whereby the purchaser of an EV, or solar panel or user of wind power is able to sponsor a coerced Uighur or child slave for a year and get sent regular updates of their history and progress-much like the sponsor a guide dog scheme over here.
“We tried freedom, but it didn’t work. We allowed the Congolese to run things the way they wanted, but they started using child labor. So we have to shut down that activity.”
Ron Stein knows better than the Congolese what’s best for the Congolese. He doesn’t think brown people should be allowed to make their own decisions.
It’s Socialism: Some Congolese know what’s better for themselves. Why shouldn’t they get to exploit their child labour, only fair. After all we did it 150 years ago.
It’s a sad first stepping stone on a nation’s progress from poverty and low life expectancy to wealth and health. I can’t think of a nation that hasn’t gone through the stage of dark satanic Mills and children being killed and maimed by industrialisation before family sizes went down and life expectancy went up.
I can’t see a way round the problem other than the wealthy being prepared to pay more for whatever the end product is. But there’s a downside that the wealth would take longer to get to the front.
It doesn’t excuse the use of what’s almost slave labour by Qatar and FIFA
What makes you think you should have a say in what Qatar does?
It is impossible to rid the West of colonialism.
Some things are simply wrong/morally reprehensible. Exploitation of migrant workers is one of them, and although the West is guilty of this, it seems that the situation in Qatar is even worse. If we care about humanity then it’s only right that human rights abuses are brought to light wherever they take place.
At the most basic level morality and ethics is about maximizing human happiness and minimizing human suffering. A country that allows 6,500 migrant workers to die is clearly not trying to minimize human suffering and is therefore not behaving ethically. This is true regardless of the colour of the indigenous population’s skin (or religion etc.). Only the worst kind of wishy-washy brain dead liberal thinks that it’s O.K. to ignore human rights abuses just because they’re committed by non Europeans.
“Some things are simply wrong/morally reprehensible.”
In your Western mind. The rest of the world has the right to live anyway they want. They don’t need your permission.
Like the Oba of Benin? Or do we draw a line at slavery and cannibalism?
Matt, those numbers are simply false as they include every migrant worker death no matter what. And what you ignore is that the alternatives for these workers are worse – lower pay, less safe conditions at home. People choose their best option, not their worst. By all means go and make Bangladesh a place where working in Qatar is worse than staying in Bangladesh. Be my guest. But don’t blame Qatar for offering an improvement in their life’s just because you don’t see the alternatives.
“Or do we draw a line at slavery and cannibalism?”
WE, kemo sabe?
The people of Qatar are sentient beings who have evolved their culture over centuries. It is vulgar British colonialism to suggest you have any say at all.
Imagine any evil you want. It is not as evil as colonialism.
Should those affected by the Benin slave trade have no say in the fate of the Benin Bronzes?
https://face2faceafrica.com/article/u-s-activists-say-benin-bronzes-shouldnt-be-returned-to-nigeria-as-it-profited-from-slavery
Should we have nothing to say about the 40 million currently enslaved worldwide?
Qatar was part of the Ottoman Empire and then a British protectorate from 1916 to 1971. My grandfather played his part in defeating the Ottoman Empire in WW1 as my father played his part in defeating the Japanese empire in WW2 and later standing up to USSR. Qatar’s survival as an independent state was helped by the intervention in 1868 of the British to prevent its takeover by Bahrain. Life is complicated and the easy targets not always the best.
Sadly, Ben, the wealth tgat a ‘nation’ can progress to is often accumulated in the bank accounts of the oligarchs running those countries. Then again, we are left to wonder, who it is who is paying them.
Because before working in factories they worked in the fields. More work for lower pay, same as their parents. And if we pay more for stuff from say Bangladesh then we but less from say Vietnam. The factory there closes and the children end up doing something worse than working in a factory.
Should read …
‘The exploitation BY green energy’
This is interesting and relevant
Europe’s largest energy storage facility begins operations in Belgium
Europe’s largest energy storage facility has begun operating in the Belgian province of Wallonia, as the continent aims to secure its energy supply
The centre can store 100 MWh of electricity. Each battery costs around €800,000 and should last for around ten years, after which they will be recycled by the manufacturer.
The investment cost without any public subsidies.
€30 million every 10 years for 100 MWh almost as mad as our politicians
https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/12/02/europes-largest-energy-storage-facility-begins-operations-in-belgium
We are to have 900 acres of solar panels and a 620 MWh battery a mile or so outside Faversham. If/when the battery goes up it will be equivalent to 415 tons of TNT. Less than half that killed over 100 men and boys (it was a Sunday so the women were not at work) when the Explosives Loading Company’s works blew up in 1916. The subsidy farm will not, of course, ‘power 100,000 homes’, if they have heating and an EV the true number is about 11,000. The purpose of the battery, of course, is to game the system by exploiting huge spot prices caused by the grid instability resulting from the 900 acres of solar panels and the weather on the north coast of Kent.
https://www.favershameye.co.uk/post/project-fortress-previously-known-as-cleve-hill
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/community/2399
Reblogged this on Calculus of Decay .
Or of ignorant people, as your comments keep reminding us.
At the moment Russia and China are the primary Colonialists. Hardly call them Western!
So we should be colonialists, too (everybody is doing it!).
Cos the West can do colonialism better than the Chinese or Russians.