Category Archives: Climate

Cobalt Mining

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Some time ago, we had a moral conflict about “Conflict Diamonds” Sadly, it seems whenever we enjoy luxuries and “progress” in one form or another, there is always someone else paying the price. We’ve been sold in glowing terms, the “green revolution” which will save the planet from the excesses of fossil fuels, and while that is great marketing, it is far from reality.

In places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, people work long shifts in very unsafe conditions to mine dangerous minerals like Cobalt (which itself causes cancer), that are key to our “green revolution” as these minerals help to make batteries and other essential components.

People die doing this work and it is often the only type of work they can do, they are virtually forced into it, and even children play their part and are dying too. These mining activities affect the wider community, and even the mining dust affects children who live nearby the mines.

You would think that the companies that take the Cobalt from these miners would pay them a decent wage, so that perhaps they could invest in decent infrastructure to make mining safe, not only for those that mine, but for the wider community. But no, Glencore who claim their “responsibly [is to] source the commodities that advance everyday life”, pays very little for this material before it is processed and sold for a whole lot more. Middle men who act as brokers often make the situation worse by using rigged scales and undervaluing what has been mined.

So before the developed world starts to congratulate itself for it’s green revolution, we should make sure that our progress is not yet again on the backs of those who are already suffering from environmental damage and disadvantage as a result of our last revolution (the industrial), have been kicked in the teeth by developed nations not paying attention to the self evident effects of climate change, and are having yet another burden placed on them, which will further deepen their suffering and the inequity that exists between them and us.

See more on this: https://www.thewrap.com/apple-microsoft-child-labor-cobalt-accused/

Undercover Police

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I was at this anti-BNP rally in Plumstead (first 15 seconds of this video), absolute war zone! Why aren’t the police infiltrating child grooming gangs and real villains, instead of left wing and anti-globalist groups? It’s quite shocking that these officers had intimate sexual relationships with women, and were only doing that as part of their job.

This news report in the video below however, isn’t how it happened for me. I remember a peaceful protest, diverted into a playing field to listen to some speeches by activists. As we got near to the playing field, I got a huge nudge in the back, and as I turned round to see who did that, I realised that a row of riot police with shields were running past me into the field, which I thought was odd, and concerning. As soon as I got to the field, within 12 paces I had some (I assume) BNP thugs throwing punches at me, a friend and his mother. We looked around and all was chaos, fighting, police on horseback charging all over the show, but the media reported that the unrest was started by the demonstrators! We heard at the time that the BNP had infultrated the ARA (Anti-Racist Alliance) crowd in order to cause trouble and distrupt the march!

Ethiopia Grand Renaissance Dam

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What a magnificent achievement. Ethiopia who has most of its people living on less than $2 a day has managed to raise $4bn dollars to build the Africa’s largest hydro-electric dam, with no help from foreign donors.

It seems like this could cause some regional instability though as water resources in the region are in a delicate balance.

Conceited, Irresponsible America

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Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It seems like a beautiful paradise, but more nuclear tests were carried out here than at the infamous Bikini Atoll. Today it is just a dumping ground for the nuclear experiments of the past. There is no protection around this island, no sea patrols, no fences or guards, and just a 46cm thick concrete shell, intended to be temporary, which covers tonnes of radioactive waste, the remnants from some of the worlds most powerful nuclear tests.

Climate change threatens the security of the island because as the waves rise the islands are in danger of being flooded, and the flimsy concrete shell hiding the radioactive waste is likely to be breached, if not straight away, over time. Even the US Government ha admitted that a typhoon could break apart the concrete shell and expose the radioactive waste.

The video below from Al Jazeera brought this to my attention. I thought that people would never return to these islands after nuclear testing, but 3 decades later they have, although they suffer from many illnesses related to radioactive exposure.

Really the wall Donald Trump should be thinking about building is one to maintain a safe perimeter around Runit Island (one of the Marshall Islands) and not a wall to keep out the Mexicans.

Then you have climate change deniers like Trump opting out of commitments to protect the environment. The sum of this is a treble slap in the face for the residents of The Marshall Islands. First, with their idyllic paradise ruined by tests for some of the cruelest most ruinous weapons known to man. Secondly, the nation that performs those tests presides over a clean up operation that is rushed and poorly done. Third, that same nation that performed the tests and failed to properly secure the dangers it left behind proves to be one of the most polluting nations on earth, and by its policy denies climate change, perhaps sealing the fate of The Marshall islands to become an unhinabitable area destroyed by toxic radioactivity. This just reflects the careless, unfeeling, conceited, irresponsibility of America.

What will you think the next time a President says “God bless America”> I always feel a sense of striking irony.