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.

  • 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.