'Clean' Green Energy? Not When Made With Forced, Child Labor

The dirty little secret about “clean” green energy is that there’s very little that’s clean about it.

A year ago March when ordinary Americans were first starting to feel the pinch at the pumps because of the Biden administration’s short-sighted energy policy, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm appeared on ABC’s “The View.”

“I drive a Chevy Bolt which is an electric vehicle. I don’t have to buy gasoline,” she bragged. “I have solar panels on my house. So I drive on sunshine.”

She makes it all sound so wonderful, with visions of unicorns snorting fairy dust into her vehicle. But the truth is far different.

Let’s take those solar panels on the roof of her home that she’s so proud of.

The majority of solar panels are manufactured in China, and for good reason — they are far less expensive while still maintaining high quality.

Foreign Policy reported last year that “Today, six of the world’s seven largest solar-panel makers are Chinese, and the seventh — Canadian Solar — has such a large presence in China that it’s planning to list on a stock market there. InterTechnology/Solar Corp., meanwhile, is dormant.”

The reason they’re so affordable is their reliance on Uyghur Muslim slave labor in western China’s Xinjiang Province.

“Everybody knows what’s going on in China, and when facilities are based there you have to accept that there’s a high possibility that forced labor will be used,” said Milan Nitzschke, president of EU ProSun, according to Politico.

EU ProSun is an alliance of solar businesses seeking to promote sustainable, solar manufacturing based in the European Union.

So it’s more likely than not that Secretary Granholm, who was formerly a Democratic governor of Michigan, supports slave labor.

Of course, solar panels have been built in the United States before. Anyone remember Solyndra?

About two years after the Obama administration co-signed $535 million loans to the Fremont, Calif. manufacturer, the company filed for bankruptcy, taking a half-billion in taxpayer dollars with it.

Then there’s the method of storing all that energy to power that “green,” clean vehicle.

In the case of a gasoline or diesel-powered vehicle, all that’s required is a simple, low tech tank. An EV requires batteries — lots and lots of high tech, expensive rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries.

These are also the batteries typically used in smart phones, tablets and laptop computers.

Although China dominates this market also, more and more U.S. manufacturers are at least considering entering the market, according to The Wall Street Journal.

But here the problem isn’t so much the slave labor used to build them so much as the production of the raw materials — especially cobalt — that Li-ion batteries require.

Cobalt can be found in many areas of the world, including Australia, but it’s most abundant in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which provides most of the world’s supply.

Tens of thousands of children have been lured into working the cobalt mines in the DRC, according to Amnesty International. Once hired, they’re subjected to grueling, back-breaking labor, according to ABC News

The story included a case study of Kapata Township, which was initially designed for mine workers in the region. ABC reported that it’s “common to see children between the ages of 6-17 working here.” Their job is to manually wash 8-10 50 kg (110 lb.) sacks of ore per day, for 1,500 Congolese francs (about $1.50 per day).

Add to that the fact that as anyone who has ever had an electronic device knows, Li-ion batteries have a limited life. They can only be recharged a given number of times before they have to be replaced.

At that point the EPA reports they can become a hazard to both human life and the environment.

The upshot of it is that it’s more likely than not Secretary Granholm also supports child labor — whether she realizes it or not.

Earlier this week President Joe Biden attempted to connect his green energy agenda to a booming economy and rising employment.

“When I hear ‘climate,’ I think jobs,” he tweeted.

“Good-paying, high-quality jobs that will help speed our transition to a green economy of the future and unleash sustainable growth.”

Yup. Green energy creates jobs, all right — just not here. They create jobs for slaves in China and 6-year-olds in the Congo. And in the United States the create a growing pile of hazardous waste.

That’s the dirty little secret of “clean” green energy.

As for me, I’ll consider buying an electric vehicle the moment Air Force One goes totally electric — but I’ll only consider it.