In Between Times 9-1-2023
Children mining your iPhone materials, Paper cups aren't so good, Hanging up needed permitting reform, Bipartisanship on UFOs
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Smartphones & electric cars rely on toxic minerals mined in Congo by children
It’s not JUST children mining cobalt, but it’s a lot of children. And we mean little ones. Some reportedly under the age of 5.
Picture tens of thousands of African children clawing at the ground searching for cobalt to sell to middlemen who then move the precious resource up the supply chain and ultimately into the phone you are using to read this article, and maybe into the battery of the car you drive.
75% of the world’s cobalt comes from Congo. Much of Congo’s cobalt is mined by hand by children.
With each passing day the world becomes more reliant on cobalt (and other “green” minerals) as more and more EVs come online. Of course we need our smartphones, which also use cobalt. Then factor the increased push for green tech like wind turbines and solar panels that also use cobalt.
Much of “sustainable” energy tech is made possible, to some degree, by little hands digging in the dust of central Africa.
(From Democracy Now!)
…what I saw was just so horrific, so extreme and severe. And the fact that it was at the bottom of supply chains, that reach out like a kraken across the global economy and touch the lives of everyone — everyone listening to us right now cannot function for 24 hours without cobalt. And as you noted in your remarks, roughly three-fourths of the world’s supply comes from Congo. And it’s mined in conditions — you read the bit, the sentence that links to Leopold. It’s mined in conditions that are like the colonial times, where the people of Africa are reduced to brute labor, their lives are not valued, their labor is not valued, their humanity is not valued. And that’s the reality that exists at the bottom of cobalt supply chains…
Click here for the article.
How much cobalt can be mined in the US?
The above question becomes obvious once one becomes aware of what is going on in Congo and also once one realizes how vital cobalt is to our economy.
In central Africa China dominates the industry. If things were to get hotter with China geopolitically, which is certainly with the realm of possibility in the near to mid-term, and perhaps very likely in the long term, the US would have a problem. We need cobalt (and lithium, and manganese) for our economy to run.
So, how much cobalt can be mined in the US?
(From Phys.org)
A new study published in Geology evaluates the potential for cobalt extraction from the Idaho Cobalt Belt (ICB) of east-central Idaho, using a detailed study of the Iron Creek deposit. The ICB hosts the second-largest known domestic resource of the critical mineral cobalt, one of the key ingredients in many rechargeable batteries needed for the green energy transition.
Demand for cobalt is projected to increase more than 500% by 2050. Roughly 70% of the cobalt mined globally is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where mining practices have been criticized for human rights violations including hazardous working conditions, child labor, and human trafficking. The Biden administration has prioritized increasing the domestic production of critical minerals in the United States, invoking the Defense Production Act in 2022 to increase mineral development, and generating renewed interest in the ICB.
Click here for the article.
The first cobalt, nickel refinery in U.S. planned for Oklahoma
Note that the USA didn’t even make the list.
Paper cups are as bad as plastic ones?
Last week we discussed a recent study that said that paper straws were at least as harmful to the environment as plastic ones. That’s bummer enough. Now comes word that paper cups are as bad as plastic ones for the environment too.
(From Wired)
A recently published study shows that paper cups can be just as toxic as conventional plastic ones if they end up littered in our natural environment. Seemingly eco-friendly paper cups are coated with a thin layer of plastic to keep their contents from seeping into the paper, and this lining can emit toxic substances. “There are chemicals leaching out of these materials,” says lead author Bethanie Carney Almroth, an associate professor of environmental science at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
Click here for the article.
White House Environmental Regulation Undermines Permitting Progress
Many environmentalists might shrug and say “so what”? Some might even consider undermining permits a good thing. But the thing is, if we are going to have a greener grid we are going to have to put things in like transmission lines. As we’ve said in the past, all that wind energy on the front range of the Rockies and on the high plains has to be transferred to the cities where that energy can be used. If no transmission lines can be put in because of (overly) onerous regulation, we are going to have real problems transitioning to a more sustainable energy network.
There has to be a network.
(From Forbes)
In late July, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) dropped a regulatory bomb that threatens to blow up infrastructure permitting reform. The proposal, known as “Phase 2” revisions to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, represents a dramatic attempt to undermine bipartisan Congressional efforts to streamline energy and infrastructure project reviews. If finalized, this rule will lead to longer approval times, increased litigation risk, and mounting uncertainty surrounding the steps to obtaining a permit, all while throwing in doubt the viability of America’s ongoing clean energy transition.
Click here for the article.
A bipartisan call for transparency surrounding information on unidentified anomalous phenomena
In a time of extreme polarization there is one thing everyone, no matter their party, wants to know.
ARE WE ALONE?
That’s right, UFOs are a great unifier, and after the mind blowing testimony of whistleblower David Grusch earlier this summer it’s become an even stronger unifier. Everyone wants to know what the government has on UFOs.
And as another publication put it when reporting on the Grusch testimony in July, we are either witness to the biggest hoax in history (if veteran DIA official Grusch is lying and did so repeatedly before Congress under risk of purgery charges) or UFOs constitute the biggest coverup in the history of the United States.
Let’s find out which one is the truth. Either one is darn interesting.
Looks like we’ll have some help from Congress.
(From AllSides)
a much-welcome bipartisan push is trying to increase transparency in regards to the government’s knowledge of these UAP sightings. Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) have led the push to bring UAP discourse to the public along with Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL). In a briefing on July 20th, Burchett stated that, “We’ve had a heck of a lot of pushback about this hearing, there are a lot of people who don’t want this to come to light.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is putting forth legislation to create a commission with authority to declassify government documents about UAPs. He is being joined by Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), who has also supported increased transparency when he led a bipartisan push with Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) to fully fund AARO, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. AARO’s job is focused with the Department of Defense to resolve UAP sightings, increase data sharing between the DoD and intelligence community, and addressing national security concerns. Joining Sens. Rubio and Gillibrand were Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
Click here for the article.
Make trees grow faster to suck up more carbon. A new company is working on it.
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Event
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The Unique Role of Faith Communities in Building a Culture of Democracy
A More Perfect Union: The Jewish Partnership for Democracy
Location: Online
Join A More Perfect Union in dialogue with Jen Walker Thomas, Co-Executive Director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government as well as Mary Ellen Giess, Chief Innovation Officer of Interfaith America, to learn about the unique role faith communities can play in creating active citizens and strong cultures of democracy.