In 2020, the world emitted 34.81 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, 21% of which were from transportation (Tiseo). In an effort to protect the environment from further deterioration caused by greenhouse gases, the Canadian government has decided to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars; only zero-emission (electric) vehicles are to be sold by 2035. The irony, however, is not lost, as in the pursuit to become greener, the government is indirectly causing further environmental damage, infringing Indigenous rights, and supporting the abuse of children and workers.
To begin with, the manufacturing of electric batteries is detrimental to the environment and to people’s health. Electric cars rely on batteries that are made up of rare earth elements (REE) like lithium, cobalt, and copper. These REEs require extensive mining to extract quantities large enough to sustain the demands of electric cars. It is well known that the process of mining contaminates water, destroys glaciers, damages habitats, and endangers the health of people and animals. Jaya Nayar, in an article from Harvard International Review, states that “for every ton of rare earth produced, the mining process yields 13kg of dust, 9,600-12,000 cubic metres of waste gas, 75 cubic metres of wastewater, and one ton of radioactive residue.” The release of these toxic substances from mining procedures affects many components of the environment; the soil becomes unsustainable, water becomes undrinkable, and the air becomes unbreathable due to high concentrations of radioactive materials. The ensuing question is: Are electric cars really green considering their batteries are manufactured via an environmentally toxic process?
Not only is the REE mining industry dangerously affecting the environment, but it is also encroaching on the rights of Indigenous communities. Most REE mining sites are located in Indigenous-populated areas. In a rising competition of electric vehicles, governments and mining companies are neglecting the rights of Indigenous communities. According to an article from The Verge, mining the largest lithium reserve in the US would require digging up a gravesite sacred to local Indigenous tribes, and a proposed copper mine in Arizona would desecrate the land sacred to the San Carlos Apache Nation (Calma). The Puna de Atacama region located at the intersection of Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia is known as the global “Lithium Triangle” for its 58 percent of the world’s supply of REE. This region is home to millions of Indigenous people, for they have lived and farmed the Puna de Atacama region since at least 10,000 B.C., “but their millennia-old practices are being upended by the mining industry, stoking tensions that sometimes precipitate violent altercations with police and state officials” (Wilson). Indigenous communities around the world have fought colonizers from illegally occupying their lands, and mining their lands by desecrating them will further aggravate their relationship with governments. It is hypocritical for governments to publicly advocate for the rights of Indigenous people while also condoning the violation of their property rights through mining.
The issues of mining REEs are not just confined to the environment and Indigenous people; rather, children and workers across the globe are also impacted by it. Primary consumers of REEs like China have several mining companies across continents (Nayar). These companies take advantage of the poor labour conditions in foreign countries and get away with establishing unsafe operations in addition to paying subpar wages. According to Amnesty International, miners have no safety equipment— no masks, gloves, goggles, or mining tools. Health problems like hard metal lung disease become more prevalent among workers under these conditions. In 2015, there were at least 80 artisanal fatalities in such mines, not including the burials in tunnels from numerous unreported accidents. Worker abuse is just one negative aspect of mining; child labour is another direct outcome of the growing demand for REEs (Amnesty International). In Southern DRC alone, there are at least 40, 000 children working in mines, most of whom are involved in mining REEs. These children spend up to 12 hours in poisonous, lethal, and toxic environments from the mere age of 7 instead of going to school (McKie)! By depriving children of their right to education (UNESCO), we are opening doors to their exploitation, early marriages, and low-income pay jobs. This “limits the future for their own children, thus repeating the cycle of poverty—the cycle that leaves an individual stuck in poverty—generation after generation” (Dubay). To put this in perspective, our desperation to manufacture electric cars to solve a problem we created causes children who have barely learnt how to read and write fluently to suffer through the continuous cycle of poverty! Their abuse does not just end there; these children suffer severe physical and psychological issues from the lack of proper infrastructure and safety practices. A study by World Visions states that 19% of the children they surveyed said they had witnessed another child die on an artisanal mining site, clearly inducing permanent trauma and fear in them (Reid). For carrying heavy loads and working long hours just to keep up with the demands for REEs, child miners are paid only $2 per day at most.! In many cases, mine workers at these sites continue to work under life-threatening conditions, as it is the only employment available to them. The irony of it all is that these miners risk their lives to supply electric cars that they themselves are too poor to own!
In addition to problems associated with mining, another issue with the batteries of electric cars is their disposal. According to an article in Forbes, these batteries contain non-biodegradable heavy metals such as cobalt and nickel. They also contain manganese which pollutes water, soil and air. Just 500 micrograms of magnesium in a cubic metre of air is enough to induce manganese poisoning in most people. Moreover, the degradation of lithium batteries produces pollutants such as hydrogen fluoride. The disposal of batteries of electric cars is a growing problem linked to a so-called environmentally friendly replacement of gas-powered vehicles. China, for instance, had to get rid of approximately 200,000 tons of electric batteries in 2020, a number expected to grow to 800,000 tons over the next four years (Ezrati). Worst yet, only 5% of the lithium batteries are recycled adequately at most (Woollacott), the other 95% are disposed of in landfills which further increases toxic waste in the environment.
With the demand for REEs projected to a 6-fold increase over the next 18 years (Nayar), threats to the environment, dissatisfaction of Indigenous communities, and poor working conditions for children and workers are bound to rise as well. Electric vehicles need six times more minerals than gas-powered vehicles (Nayar). Given the negative consequences associated with electric cars, I believe it would be best for countries to sustain current modes of transportation until a truly environment-friendly option is discovered. Electric vehicles are not the right solution just yet because of the numerous environmental, economic, and social issues they yield. Perhaps in the next few decades, advances in technology will lead to alternative methods of mining and disposal which will allow electric vehicles to be less problematic. In the meantime, instead of focusing on electric batteries, the government should emphasize improving public transportation as a means to reduce the number of personal vehicles on the road and the related effects of gas emissions. Furthermore, the government should introduce additional policies and incentives to promote behavioural changes among citizens such as carpooling, minimal consumption of single-use plastics, water preservation, and tree plantation, to list a few. The proponents of the exclusive availability of “zero-emission” vehicles in the market should reflect on the following question: how can you label electric cars as eco-friendly when they cause further damage to the environment, promote violation of Indigenous rights, and encourage the abuse of children and workers worldwide?