In a dramatic hearing of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, members of the Republican majority exposed, in detail, how the billions of dollars in “green energy” spending under President Joe Biden administration's “Inflation Reduction Act” will fuel child slave labor and create widescale toxic pollution.
“U.S. dependence on foreign sources for critical minerals has reached alarming rates. Sadly, Mr. Biden and Democrats in Congress don't see this as a problem, or they simply don't care,” said Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., in a statement. (RELATED: Biden Admin Deals Blow To Mining Industry – Gives Initiative to China)
“While the magical fantasy of roads filled with only electric cars occupy their dreams, the reality is Democrats have no concept, let alone a plan, to address the complexity of our growing reliance on critical minerals,” said Gosar.
“We must stop the funding and profiteering of hostile foreign countries, many who rely on unconscionable child labor to line their pockets,” said Gosar.
“Demand for many of these minerals is predicted to exponentially grow, driven in part by a strong national and global push to increase renewable energy. For example, President Joe Biden's commitments to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 will necessitate a massive scale-up of renewables in the upcoming decades,” said Gosar in the hearing. “This will inevitably require substantial increases in mineral extraction to meet the demand. The World Bank predicted demand increases of graphite, lithium, and cobalt of almost 500 percent by the year 2050.” (RELATED: Inconvenient Truths About Green Economy Emerge in Maine Wilderness)
Gosar then spelled out, in detail, how electric cars, solar panels and other supposedly “clean” energy sources are built with the labor of child slaves and create billions of tons of deadly toxic waste.
“Given this skyrocketing demand, labor conditions and other practices at Chinese-operated mines cannot be ignored. Some of the most serious reports stem from Chinese mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, reportedly involving corruption and violation of human rights, including forced evictions, child labor and other labor and human rights abuses through subcontracting models,” said Gosar.
“For example, reports emerged of child labor in the Katanga region of the Congo where children work for $2 a day. One human rights activist recently took photographs of young children approximately six years old ‘carrying large bags of rocks and mothers working laboriously while carrying their babies,'” Gosar told a stunned committee.
Gosar also revealed that supposedly “clean” “green energy” is one of the world's most toxic industries. (RELATED: Dangers Abound in Clean Energy Supply Chain)
“Environmental standards and guidelines used by Chinese-owned minerals industry companies are also questionable. In one instance, a Chinese-owned nickel plant spilled almost 53,000 gallons of toxic slurry into a bay in Papua New Guinea's Madang province, turning the water bright red and staining the shore,” Gosar revealed. “According to a Zimbabwean environmentalist, ‘some Chinese companies don't even have proper licenses to operate in Zimbabwe [and] these companies are leaving trails of immense environmental degradation across the country, particularly those in extractive sectors.'”
Gosar noted that American companies produce such energy without using child slaves or poisoning entire ecosystems.
“The best place for mineral development is America, where we employ scientific advancements and regulate mineral production under some of the world's most rigorous standards,” said Gosar.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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For the ores for our batteries etc A-Z
Not a big deal. As long as child slave labor goes on in other countries for “Green” energy projects, Democrats are okay with it.
At this point it is pretty clear that 1) Green energy will not substitute for the real deal that uses fossil fuels; 2) The mining of precious metals necessary for green energy production will spoil much of the earth; 3) Solar and wind facilities will consume so much of the earth’s surface area that wildlife populations will suffer irreparable harm; 4) ‘Green’ batteries will not last forever and disposal of them en masse will poison much of what’s left of the earth; 5) Power failures will leave us in electric vehicles stranded on motorways with zero means of recourse.