As more environmentally conscious Americans do their bit to help clear the air by paying up for an eco-friendly Prius or a sporty Tesla, a damaging form of polluted rain is falling in China.
The link is graphite, a vital component in batteries used in Tesla’s Model S, Toyota’s plug-in Prius and other electric cars, as well as in electronic gadgets including iPhones. It’s mostly mined and processed in China where graphite pollution has fouled air and water, damaged crops and raised health concerns. Now, in response, Chinese authorities are closing dozens of graphite mines and processors in a bid for cleaner air even as global demand for the commodity is surging.
h/t Kevin B
I say it’s the nickel mining for our Earth-saving batteries. Acid rain used to be a thing of the past…
This is typical of the unintended consequences of the left’s obsession with “green”. Here is another example. It is a mine in China that produces rare Earths metals used in wind mills:
http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-chinese-rare-earth-mining-2013-4?op=1
Notice that the PPE (personal protective equipment), pollution scrubbers, and settling pond liners that would be required over here are not in use in China. By chasing away heavy industry in North America, the environmentalists have forced it to go where there are no controls over pollution or protections for workers.
I see the same thing with American coal these days. It is hauled by rail to the coast where it is shipped overseas. Instead of fueling well-scrubbed power plants here, the stuff is burned in China with all the pollutants being released into the atmosphere. Thanks a lot, Sierra Club.
Graphite being a form of carbon.
Turns out these green-eyed, dope-smoking, battery-operated hippies are nothing but mass murderers.
As long as you feel good about yourself, someone else’s suffering is moot. Just as compassion is the easiest of virtues, environmentalism is proving to be the easiest of sciences.
Yeah well this nothing new….or just Chinese…..
a few years back Khabarosk, on the Amur River, in Eastern Siberia had ta close the intakes of it’s water treatment plant,,,,,benzene was detected…..it seems the Ruskies were closely monitoring the water. Hours(days?) later China warned them about an “accidental benzene spill”……
In the former DDR (East Germany) lakes have weird colours and no life due to chemical pollution.
In addition to being the site of the Soviet “Tzar Bomba” test…..the Arctic Ocean was the disposal site for radioactive waste like the old reactor from the Icebreaker Lenigrad (nuclear powered).
The biological pollution of Cambodia’s “killing fields”…..
If Tesla is serious about being environmentally friendly, can’t they just use recycled graphite fuel rods from Fukushima and Chernobyl?
For every Iphone an environmentalist uses. The cars driven by them. The use of resources in a never ending crusade against technology. The wailing to stop any others from seeing a tree but them. The green nuts have brought even more destruction as do gooders always seem to do.
The only thing this cult of Suzuki,Gore worshippers could do right is die than fertilize the flowers. Even than I figure these folks bodies are so toxic from dangerous drugs, they will ruin soil.
Nice to see them cut there own noses off.
The Tesla weighs in at over 4000 pounds, which is about twice the weight of gas powered cars. There is a lot if energy wasted hauling that extra 2000 pounds around.
Congratulations to Greenpeace, WWF, Sierra Club, Audubon, and every other “green” NIMBY organization. You have NOT successfully stopped pollution in North America, by shutting down industry in North America. We are instead exporting the industries and jobs, but mostly the jobs, to China, India, and the third world.
NIMBY does not work. The jobs and benfits may not be in your backyard, but the air and water pollution will get back to you relatively quickly.
NYC is less than two weeks away from China by wind. LA and SF are even closer. It takes about three years for crud pouring out of the Yangtse River to get to the West Coast.
If we had these industries in North America, there would be jobs, industry, and an increasing standard of living. We would have produced these new products while minimizing pollution. But that is not good enough for the environmental absolutists. They complain about everything, including using land for offices, homes and schools. Nothing gets built here in the U.S. Instead it gets built in China, and the pollution gets poured onto the ground, the water and into the air with minimal or no pollution control.
I guess we all knew it was a “slippery slope”
Pollution in China is not a bug, for environmentalists. Its a feature.
Less humans if a million Chicoms a day die of pollution, and they don’t have to look at the corpses because its all happening far, far away from sunny Southern California.
Plus, cheap stuff at Wallmart.
Good thing the oil sands are completely clean and environmentally friendly.