#Mining Critical to #Renewable Energy Tied to Hundreds of Alleged #HumanRights Abuses

A report released Wednesday faults the #US and other nations for providing incentives for the mining of rare metals like #lithium and #cobalt without enacting adequate #labor and #environmental safeguards.

By Katie Surma
June 7, 2023

"Over the past dozen years, hundreds of alleged human rights abuses have been committed by over 90 #corporations mining minerals critical to the production of #CleanEnergy, a U.K.-based human rights organization said in a report released on Wednesday.

"The Business and Human Rights Resource Center said the alleged abuses involve global mining for #copper, lithium, cobalt, #manganese, #nickel and #zinc, all used in critical renewable technologies like #SolarPanels, vehicle (#EV) batteries and #windmills.

"The abuses, the report concluded, stem from the failure of the #UnitedStates and other nations to develop appropriate labor and environmental safeguards for resource extraction critical to the green energy transition, a key aim of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.

"Beyond alleged incidents of assaults, child labor, arbitrary arrests and detentions, the report’s database of 510 alleged violations includes #environmental crimes involving the #pollution of drinking #water and other natural resources, and violations of communities’ rights to be consulted about projects that affect them."

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07062023/mining-clean-energy-human-rights/

#EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #ExtractiveMining #LithiumMining #LaxRegulations #NoConsent #CorporateColonialism

I just came across a piece about #LithiumMining in #Arkansas using a method touted to be "greener". Like I'm always saying, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't true. Also, #ExxonLied then -- who's to say they aren't now?!

Some questions about the plan to mine lithium in south Arkansas

By Sam Watson
November 14, 2023

"What are the environmental impacts here? This question is difficult to answer at this point. Normal lithium extraction is quite #environmentally damaging; it often involves treating brine containing lithium with sulfuric acid and letting the liquid evaporate in open pools, leaving lithium behind. #Exxon stated that they’d use something called 'direct lithium extraction.' There are several versions of this process, but we don’t yet know what Exxon will use. All of them have different environmental impacts, some more severe than others. The key here will be regulation and monitoring, but we have serious concerns here. The Division of Environmental Quality may not have capacity for this kind of continuous monitoring and the state’s friendliness to #OilAndGas makes us worried that upfront regulations to protect the #environment and people of south Arkansas will be lacking at best."

https://arktimes.com/news/2023/11/14/some-questions-about-the-plan-to-mine-lithium-in-south-arkansas

#OilAndGasCorporations #LaxRegulations #EnvironmentalImpact #BigOilAndGas #DirectLithiumExtraction #Mining #SouthernArkansas