The Post-Partisan Emporium

  EVs Indicted Cobalt Red is a scathing indictment of the global cobalt trade, and by extension, the electric vehicle industry. Robert Bryce Imagine for a moment if the oil and gas sector had direct (or indirect)  connections to slavery, child labor, or working conditions so dangerous that thousands of their workers were dying on the job every year. The uproar and indignation would be heard from here to Houston. But in the case of the world’s supply of cobalt—an element that is a critical ingredient in the batteries that are driving the global EV craze—the response to the widespread use of child labor and hell-like working conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has gone largely unnoticed and vastly under-reported. Until now. Siddharth Kara is among the world’s bravest journalists. And his new book,  Cobalt Red: How the Blood Of The Congo Powers Our Lives , is a must-read. It is a compelling, confounding, and withering indictment of the global supply chains that provide cobalt

File under "Idiocracy"... NYC Electric Garbage Truck Plans Hit Wall After Trucks "Conked Out" Plowing Snow After Just Four Hours By  Tyler Durden Zero Hedge In a move that absolutely  nobody  could have seen coming, New York City is scrapping its brilliant idea for electric garbage trucks after finding out the truck simply “aren’t powerful enough to plow snow”. The pipe dream of converting the city’s 6,000 garbage trucks from gas to electric in order to try and limit carbon emissions (because there’s no  other  problems that need to be dealt with in New York City right now) is “clashing with the limits of electric-powered vehicles,” Gothamist  wrote this week . The city’s current trucks run on diesel and can be fitted with plows in the winter. Despite the shortcomings, the city Department of Sanitation’ has already ordered seven electric rear loader garbage trucks, custom-made by Mack, the report says. Those trucks cost an astonishing $523,000 each and are to be del

Toyota's Green Image Isn't What You Think. For One, Where Are The Electric Vehicles? By Katherine García  August 31, 2022 ( Katherine García is the director of the Sierra Club's Clean Transportation for All campaign) In 2000, Toyota was at the cutting edge of automobile technology with its brand new hybrid Prius. Now, over 20 years later, Toyota – once the leader in climate friendly vehicles – is at the back of the pack and hiding behind the green vision they once led.  The fact is: a hybrid today is not green technology. The Prius hybrid runs on a pollution-emitting combustion engine found in any gas-powered car. Ironically, Toyota misleads about its existing Prius technology by borrowing electric vehicle descriptions: Toyota touts that the Prius is self-charging and that there is "no need to plug in." But plugging in is essential for improving air quality and slashing climate pollution. As the transportation industry is the single largest source of greenhouse ga