this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2023
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Lithium isn’t mined it is gathered by pumping water into salt flats so the lithium rises to the surface and it isn’t done by children. You’re repeating misinformation.
There is an environmental cost for absolutely anything we make. Do you suggest we stop making anything and everything?
Electric cars are the more environmentally sound choice. They are a required first step to ending our dependence on fossil fuels. Without them we cannot end our dependency.
https://www.sayona.ca/en/projets/the-north-american-lithium-complex/
Weird that they call it a mine and that there's blast alerts 🤔
Not weird at all. They are mining an ore called spodumene then using a new method to refine it into lithium. They aren’t harvesting raw lithium like it is done everywhere else in the world.
Also, nothing about children doing the work.
Nice try moving the goalpost though.
I never said anything about the children though.
Your comment started with "Lithium isn't mined", I just proved that was false, that's all.
You didn’t prove anything false. You proved that spodumene is mined and spodumene isn’t lithium. Just like iron mined isn’t steel.
Also you’re trying to ignore the context, which is that ‘EVs bad cause children are forced to mine lithium’. Which proves you’re not arguing in good faith.
Pretty disingenuous, that's like me saying "gas doesn't come from underground because it's actually refined from petrol and the petrol isn't underground anymore when it's refined"
More like saying “EVs are bad because lithium is mined by children”.
Then when it is proven that it is not mined, let alone by children, you linking to an article of some rare method of mining spodumene that isn’t done by children and you pretending that is what the discussion is about.
I was answering your message, I'm not the person that talked about children in the first place, you're message was "it's not mined AND its not done by children", that's two separate affirmations, I only replied to the first one yet you keep bringing up the second one.
Mining is one way Lithium is produced, therefore you were wrong. Doesn't matter that it's rare, your first point was that it doesn't happen at all, which is false.
You inserted yourself into a conversation about how “EVs are bad because children have to mine lithium to make them”.
You’re trying to change the subject to ‘look I found this rare method of mining something that is not lithium, it doesn’t matter that it is rare in the context of the manufacturing of all EVs’.
That is like saying ‘I don’t need to work for a living because look at this rare example of someone winning the lottery’.
Context matters.
Spodumene is not lithium.
Your rare example of mining some thing that is not lithium isn’t relevant in a discussion about children mining lithium for EVs.
You’re trying to argue semantics in bad faith.
"That thing we mine to produce lithium doesn't count as humans mining to produce lithium."
You:
“If you ignore the fact that spodumene isn’t lithium…
and the fact that children aren’t mining it…
and the fact that it isn’t happening enough to be relevant to the conversation…
Then I’m totally right!”
https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/92bfcdec-de10-4581-bfc1-7d136e3ae9ca.webp
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spodumene
Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, LiAl(SiO3)2What's that? The lithium is inside the mineral that's... Mined?
As of 2019, around half of lithium is extracted from mineral ores, which mainly consist of spodumene.Damn, that's very rare, isn't it?
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/us-measure-ban-products-mineral-mined-child-labor-100610654
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/01/child-labour-behind-smart-phone-and-electric-car-batteries/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2023/02/08/battery-push-by-tesla-and-other-ev-makers-raises-child-labor-concerns/
https://financialpost.com/commodities/mining/china-lithium-ion-batteries-child-labour-us-trade-war
Your first three articles are about children mining COBALT in Africa. Not mining lithium like I said.
Cobalt is not required for making EVs. It is just an ingredient in one of the many different battery types.
Your 4th link is about using child labor in China to build batteries. Not mine material.
Conclusion: you either didn’t read the articles or you are trying to move the goalpost.
What about the other two links? 🤔
Theres 4 links that I see. I commented on the first 3 then the 4th.
If that went unnoticed by you then how is anyone supposed to trust your research on the subject?
Oh sorry, I skipped "three"
I wonder how many words you “skipped” while you “researched” the subject. 🤔
And they're needed in the construction of Lithium-Ion batteries, which the vast majority of EVs use, you're clearly arguing in bad faith over semantics. My bad, since children are dying mining for some other mineral it's okay, my mistake.
Again, cobalt isn’t needed to make batteries and there are many other battery chemistries that can be used in EVs. If that is really a concern of yours then you would be arguing for EV manufacturers to use a different battery chemistry. Which they are already transitioning to.
But you aren’t arguing for manufacturers to change battery chemistry. You’re cherry picking information to argue that EVs are the same as ICEs vehicles. Which makes your intentions obvious.
You argue against EVs then claim to want to end car dependency. So you want everyone riding busses and trains run on diesel?
Climate change is real and we need to end our dependency on fossil fuels to prevent the extinction of our species and EVs are a required step in doing that.