Yet based on this lie, the health of people and ecosystems in Indonesia and China is being ruined to feed one of the centrepieces of the “green” agenda: the electric vehicle industry.
If, after reading Vijay Jaaraj’s article below, you purchase or drive an electric vehicle because you think you are “saving the planet,” not only have you been deceived, but you are a hypocrite.
The silent, gleaming chassis of an electric vehicle (“EV”) glides through a pristine forest or a spotless, futuristic city. The message is simple: The driver is saving the planet. It is a narrative built on a convenient, calculated omission.
Pull back the curtain on the EV supply chain – starting with Indonesian nickel mining and extending through rare-earth mineral processing in China – and there is revealed a far less immaculate picture. The “zero tailpipe emissions” tag is a masterpiece of misdirection, diverting attention away from an environmental hellscape.
In Sulawesi, Indonesia, conveyor belts stretch across once-lush forests belching dust into the air, while smokestacks stain the sky with a toxic haze. The rush to supply the West’s EV appetite has triggered a nickel boom, but the cost lands squarely on the people and ecosystems of Indonesia.
So, why single out nickel? Today’s batteries – the heart of EV propulsion – are built on nickel, of which Indonesia is the largest producer. Without Indonesian nickel, the supply chains for “clean” vehicles grind to a halt. And every new electric SUV delivered to showrooms leaves behind the environmental cost imposed on these Indonesian communities.
What exactly billows from Indonesian smokestacks and seeps from factory discharges into rivers and soils? A partial list includes sulphur dioxide, a corrosive gas; nitrogen oxides and microscopic particulate matter, both constituents of smog; chromium; ammonia; hydrogen sulphide; and heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cobalt and cadmium. All are pollutants with potential effects on health.
Fishers from Sulawesi and North Maluku lament vanishing shoals and toxic mud spilling into the sea. Even the air is said to taste of metal and ash. These are the lived experiences of thousands of Indonesians, not isolated anecdotes.
The battery is only part of the story. The EV’s electric motor, as well as the machinery of giant wind turbines that might charge the battery, require powerful magnets made from rare-earth minerals. And more than 90% of the world’s supply of these processed minerals comes from China...<<<Read More>>>...