2 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Liverpool owners won’t sell club to ‘interested’ Elon Musk
Your argument here appears to be: "Elon's company doesn't use child slaves to mine cobalt. It is merely the final link in a supply chain that starts with child slaves mining cobalt."
Not the strongest defence tbh.
Comment by Peeniskatteus at 08/01/2025 at 10:08 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
It's little more complex than that.
1. It has not been verified that the cobalt being used in Tesla's batteries has been mined by child labour.
2. Because of the complex nature of the global supply chains it is virtually impossible be 100% sure what has happened every step of the way. How companies operate in general is that they require their suppliers to follow a set of policies, often in accordance with various standards, regulations etc. So in this case Tesla requires LG Chem to follow the said policies, LG Chem requires the same from Umicore etc etc etc. If there's any foul play somewhere in the early stages of the supply chain it's on those parties to get their shit together.
Companies like Glencore provide cobalt and other resources for n+1 companies around the World. Cobalt has been used industrially for roughly 100 years, also as a major component in fuel production[1]. No one cared about the children of Congo before EVs (mostly Tesla) became a thing. Now every diesel driving old geezer is *extremely concerned* on the topic.. wonder what has happened?[2]
2: https://www.kochvsclean.com/ev-facts/
I'm not saying we shouldn't take these things seriously but the sudden hypocrisy around the topic is laughable.