The Trouble With Cobalt | Answers With Joe
I don't like his attitude about how renewable energy sources are going to take over the world. If god had wanted us to drive electric cars he wouldn't have given us thousand horsepower internal combustion engines. That's my own personal problem, pay me no mind. Joe's probably right, doesn't mean I have to like it. But all that is just a distraction from the real story, er, stories: Cobalt and the Congo.
The problem with artisanal mines is not that they are dangerous, the problem is that evidently it's the best opportunity the miners have for making a living. Now it could be that there are some unscrupulous people who compelling people to work like slaves, but once again, it's the overall economic situation in that country. Squeezing out the small mines may only serve to consolidate the big mining company's hold. Small mines may be dangerous, but if they are successful they may also provide a way out of the extreme poverty that got the miners into this situation in the first place.
The video is a little long for this blog (30 minutes) but it's got the best summary of the history of the Congo I've come across. People can be ruthless. Don't know if I could ever be that ruthless. Well, yes, I could. Just deprive me of a good night sleep for a week or two and see how much I care about anybody.
Get all the soccer moms and commuters in electric cars, then the cops will control miscreants but shutting them down remotely. Once they get in that groove they won't know what to do when we blow through with our 1,ooo hp ic cars. ;o)
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