Joe Rogan, presenter of the podcast, was shocked when a Harvard professor and author revealed that the cobalt used to power every lithium battery used in modern technology in the west is mined in the Congo under conditions of slavery.
Cobalt Red: How The Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives author Siddharth Kara maintains that there is no such thing as “clean cobalt,” the word used to designate cobalt that has been ethically mined.
During an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast earlier this week, he admitted to the Spotify host that almost every modern product that uses a lithium battery is really fueled by slavery.
He supplied films from mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that he had taken to back up his claim, showing hundreds or maybe thousands of workers manually digging.
Every single lithium rechargeable battery produced in the world today contains cobalt.
It is essential to “every smartphone, every tablet, every laptop, and most importantly, every electric car,” he said.
Cobalt is essential for daily life, and the Congo provides three-fourths of the world’s supply. And it’s being mined in dreadful, hazardous, and heartbreaking circumstances.
“For the most part, nobody in the world knows what’s going on…
People may not be aware of how awful it is, he said.
When Rogan pressed her on the idea of “clean cobalt,” Kara said, “It’s just marketing.”
He claims to have “never seen” a cobalt mine without evidence of child labor or enslavement.
According to Kara, the Chinese are mostly in charge of the mines.
He wrote of visiting a mine where a young boy explained how he would search for heterogenite, the main source of cobalt, and then sell it to “purchasing houses,” which Kara characterized as being managed by “Chinese agents.”
These agents sell the cobalt to international mining firms.
In a flash, he said, “cobalt collected by a kid in the Congo enters the official supply chain.”
American businesses like Tesla and Apple have already committed to take action against slavery and violations of human rights in the cobalt supply chain.
Elon Musk promised to use a cobalt-free battery to power his electronic cars, and human rights watchdogs have praised Apple for spearheading the industry’s anti-slavery movement.
Additionally, the Biden administration just reached a deal with Zambia and the DRC to clean the supply chain of wrongdoings.
The Chinese government’s dominance over the market, in Kara’s opinion, is the ongoing issue.
He explained to Rogan that “the Chinese government and Chinese mining firms grabbed control of practically all the main mines before anybody understood what was occurring and the local population has been relocated.”
Africa is now under “duress” from China to meet demand.
He claimed that for a dollar a day, “they dig in truly subhuman, gut-wrenching circumstances, feeding cobalt up the supply chain into all the phones, all the tablets, and particularly electric automobiles.”
He said that part of the fault still rests with American businesses like Telsa.
“This is the very end of the supply chain for your Samsung, Tesla, and iPhone.”
Kara claims that the closure of the more responsible foreign mines caused by the COVID-19 outbreak made things worse.
Without any restrictions, it sent hand-digging artisanal miners into overdrive.
»Harvard professor says all lithium batteries originate from slave mines«