Do The Ends Justify The Means For Electric Vehicle Production?

Despite the left’s apparent aversion to mining and drilling, I find it odd that no one questions the method of mining needed to switch the world over to electric vehicles. Whereas oil can be drilled for while keeping the surface relatively undisturbed, the minerals used in electric vehicles involve horizontal drilling. This means blasting the ground apart and conducting open-pit mining that is extremely damaging to large-scale areas.

A lot of the minerals necessary in electric vehicles are sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Heard of it? They may have pinged on your radar before, since their mining industry is littered with human-rights violations. One UNICEF report estimates that 40,000 children are working in DRC mines, where they are exposed to toxic dust and where the tunnels are prone to cave ins. But leftist politicians rarely visit the Congo (kind of like our southern border) and if you don’t see a problem it’s basically not happening. I’m sure operations in the Congo are fine!

Whatever the state of things may be on the ground, they clearly aren’t moving quickly enough or there simply aren’t enough resources in that one location. Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Michael Bloomberg are backing KoBold, a California mineral exploration startup powered by artificial intelligence, and its exploration project in Greenland. I said a lot there. Take a second to take it all in.

“Fully electrifying the global economy is our generation’s greatest challenge,” the KoBold spokesperson said. “Partnering with this broad set of world-class investors will accelerate our efforts to find the key materials for the EV revolution.”

This group wants to find enough mineral deposits to power 100 million electric vehicles. I have not seen them mention who will handle the labor-intensive refinement process of these materials. Currently more than 90 percent of the ­production of rare earth minerals takes place in China. As expected, some of it comes from unsanctioned producers who don’t follow safety protocols, environmental rules, or labor laws. Even a few of China’s licensed refiners have been found to be contaminating nearby water sources, so we can only guess at what unlicensed producers are contributing to the overall environmental impact.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), an electric vehicle requires six times the mineral inputs of a comparable internal combustion engine vehicle (ICE). EV batteries are very heavy and are made with some exotic, expensive, toxic, and flammable materials.

Melting ice in Greenland has exposed areas previously impervious to exploration. It is said that Teslas use less minerals while also lasting longer than the competition, so anyone who cared about their footprint would probably partner with Musk. But it’s totally fine, guys! We’re saving the environment. Or something. I mean, not immediately, obviously. But after we destroy it a little, or, okay, a lot, then we won’t have to destroy it anymore for a while, and that sir, is the definition of clean energy! And what is clean energy if not the opportunity to make money– I mean, save the environment. Greenland, here we come!