Renewable energy, powered by child slaves

The ESG investing movement isn’t pro-environment. It’s pro-China — which means anti-freedom.

From Freightwaves article.

The ugly truth about renewable energy is finally coming to light. Not only is “green” energy not the environmental panacea it’s advertised to be, it would be better labeled “red energy”: red with the blood of the child slaves who made it possible.

A newly released book, Cobalt Red, by a slavery and human trafficking expert, Siddharth Kara, is busting renewable energy’s rosy reputation. It offers yet another reason to boldly and unapologetically support affordable, reliable American energy proudly powered by oil, gas, and coal — not by child slaves.

In an interview with Joe Rogan, Kara shares a chilling video from an industrial cobalt mine in the Congo, generously described as “gut-wrenching”: 15,000 men, women, and children crammed into a pit, hammering by hand and breathing in toxic fumes without safety equipment. Cobalt mines are known to enslave children as young as four. 

Slavery may have been abolished centuries ago in the United States, but it’s alive and well in the cobalt industry — and the renewable energy agenda is enabling these atrocities.

Cobalt is a crucial component in lithium ion batteries, without which electric vehicles and any meaningful increase in wind and solar electric generation would be impossible. The radical left’s fantasy of going 100% renewable would require a mind-boggling 200 to 2,000% increase in mining for cobalt and other minerals. Electric cars require six times more minerals than gas-powered cars, and wind power facilities nine times that of natural gas power plants (their parts also don’t last as long and can’t be recycled, requiring even more mining).

And the inhumane conditions in Congolese mines aren’t an isolated incident. They pale in comparison to the atrocities committed by China, which controls much of the mineral supply chain needed for renewable energy. While the red dragon lectures the United States for XYZ, its reckless mining operations mercilessly destroy the environment and threaten human lives.

The same political movement that demands blind loyalty to the gods of sustainability and ethical sourcing seems to have no qualms enabling child slavery when it comes to green. But the environmental movement is no stranger to selective outrage. It’s difficult to believe Xi Jinping isn’t pulling the strings behind the curtain.

The modern green movement is driven largely by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing — the behind-the-scenes financial regulations forcing companies to go woke or go broke — which has China’s fingerprints all over it. 

The problem with ESG isn’t that investing based on political causes is wrong. The problem is when political agendas take precedence over fiduciary duty — and that ESG has no agreed-upon definition. While America’s responsible energy producers are penalized by big investment firms like BlackRock for simply doing their jobs, Chinese-owned companies get off scot-free, even though China’s coal mines pump out lethal levels of air pollution and its depraved treatment of Uyghur Muslims is just one of a litany of human rights abuses. The ESG investing movement isn’t pro-environment. It’s pro-China — which means anti-freedom.

It’s difficult to overstate China’s power over global markets. It may rank second in global GDP, but it controls the vast majority of the world’s manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, cement, steel, technology, and — you guessed it — the minerals that make electric cars, wind turbines, and solar power possible. Government mandates to promote wind and solar play right into China’s hands.

The revelations of Cobalt Red offer yet another reason to unapologetically support the American energy industry. The natural gas, oil, and clean coal produced responsibly in the United States are the most affordable, reliable, and ethical sources of energy available today — with an unmatched environmental record.

More importantly, American energy pulls the balance of power toward freedom and opportunity. After four years of the Trump administration’s pro-energy, pro-business policies, Communism’s stranglehold on the global economy was loosened. Energy prices were low, OPEC no longer controlled the market, and multiple Middle Eastern nations even committed to normalizing relations with Israel, an unprecedented development National Review described as “something suspiciously resembling peace.”

The entire world benefits from a strong America. With energy a critical resource — perhaps the critical resource — that makes modern life possible, our political leaders owe it to the American people, and to people all over the world, to stop the renewable madness and embrace America’s energy industry.