President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies constantly virtue signal about going “green” and aiming for “clean” energy, but they don’t seem to have a problem making deals with countries that regularly engage in illegal child labor.
According to the Daily Caller, about a week before the administration issued what amounts to a mining ban in Minnesota, it signed deals with countries where child labor is encouraged.
The outlet noted that before banning the mining area in Minnesota, the administration “agreed to a memorandum of understanding with Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, two countries known for mining rare metals cobalt and copper and using child labor to mine these metals.”
A State Department press release said the deal with the African countries was to strengthen batteries for electric vehicles — cars that most blue-collar Americans can’t afford or do not want.
The details
“Through this MOU, the United States will support the commitment between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to develop jointly a supply chain for electric vehicle batteries,” the State Department’s statement read.
The two African countries, combined, account for vast amounts of the world’s supply of both cobalt and copper, two essential raw materials for EV batteries and so much more.
But they’re also two countries that take advantage of young children to help mind those resources.
According to the Department of Labor, “Thousands of children also work in cobalt and copper mines in the southern Copperbelt region.”
It added: “Prevalence of child labor is highest in the country’s artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector, which operates with minimal oversight. Child labor has been detected at one in four ASM sites, with informal or illegal ASM operations leaving children uniquely exposed to hazardous working conditions and, in some instances, to forced labor.”
US mining project blocked days after Biden admin signs rare metals deal with countries known for child labor exploitation https://t.co/raTdC1p00B
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) January 31, 2023
Hypocrites
It’s the same situation that Democrats find themselves in on the green energy hoax — as long as America goes “green,” it doesn’t matter that we have to get supplies from countries like China and India, which are both very much the opposite of “green.”
In this case, Democrats would scream and cry and holler if American companies used children to do hard labor, but as long as its done out of sight and out of mind, across the ocean, it’s apparently no big deal.
As automakers gather at #CES2023 to proudly announce their newest models of EVs, I wonder how much time they will spend discussing that this is the kind of hellscape from which the cobalt in their batteries is mined?@StMartinsPress @Freedom_Fund @CNNFreedom pic.twitter.com/vDHvQozmem
— Siddharth Kara (@siddharthkara) January 5, 2023
Let’s see how the White House spins this one, if any reporters have the courage to press them on it.