The world is moving toward electric vehicles. In Part 3 of our series on the hidden toll of this historic transition, business reporter Evan Halper breaks down this industrial shift and the concerns it brings over human and environmental costs.
Vehicles are being constructed on an automated production line at the VinFast electric automobile plant in Haiphong, Vietnam. (Nhac Nguyen/AFP)States such as California and New York are moving to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars over the next decade. Meanwhile, President Biden wants at least half of new car sales to be electric by 2030.
But the race to reduce our carbon footprint has hidden tolls. Workers in South Africa mining for manganese – an essential mineral for electric car batteries – are experiencing serious health problems. There are also geopolitical ramifications, with tensions in Afghanistan, where an untapped trove of lithium ore is beginning to garner interest from both the Taliban and Chinese prospectors.
Today on “Post Reports,” Halper tells us how regulators, advocates and companies are responding to growing concerns over electric vehicle manufacturing.
More from The Post’s bigger series, “Clean Cars, Hidden Toll”:
- In the scramble for EV metals, a health threat to workers often goes unaddressed.
- In the race for lithium, Afghanistan is of interest to the Taliban and Chinese prospectors.
- To meet EV demand, industry turns to technology long-deemed hazardous.
- Despite reforms, mining for EV metals in Congo exacts steep cost on workers.
- On the frontier of new “gold rush,” the quest for coveted EV metals yields misery.
- Minerals are crucial for electric cars and wind turbines. Some worry whether we have enough.
Enable the Flash Briefing in the Amazon Skill store or search for "The Washington Post" in the Skill section of your Alexa app. Then ask, "Alexa, what's my Flash Briefing?" or "Alexa, what's the news?"
Send Post Reports to your Google Assistant device or say, "Okay Google, play the news from Post Reports."
The world is moving toward electric vehicles. In Part 3 of our series on the hidden toll of this historic transition, business reporter Evan Halper breaks down this industrial shift and the concerns it brings over human and environmental costs.
Vehicles are being constructed on an automated production line at the VinFast electric automobile plant in Haiphong, Vietnam. (Nhac Nguyen/AFP)States such as California and New York are moving to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars over the next decade. Meanwhile, President Biden wants at least half of new car sales to be electric by 2030.
But the race to reduce our carbon footprint has hidden tolls. Workers in South Africa mining for manganese – an essential mineral for electric car batteries – are experiencing serious health problems. There are also geopolitical ramifications, with tensions in Afghanistan, where an untapped trove of lithium ore is beginning to garner interest from both the Taliban and Chinese prospectors.
Today on “Post Reports,” Halper tells us how regulators, advocates and companies are responding to growing concerns over electric vehicle manufacturing.
More from The Post’s bigger series, “Clean Cars, Hidden Toll”:
- In the scramble for EV metals, a health threat to workers often goes unaddressed.
- In the race for lithium, Afghanistan is of interest to the Taliban and Chinese prospectors.
- To meet EV demand, industry turns to technology long-deemed hazardous.
- Despite reforms, mining for EV metals in Congo exacts steep cost on workers.
- On the frontier of new “gold rush,” the quest for coveted EV metals yields misery.
- Minerals are crucial for electric cars and wind turbines. Some worry whether we have enough.
In Part 2 of our series on the hidden toll of electric vehicles, reporter Gerry Shih ventures into the mountains of Afghanistan to find out what happens when loads of untapped lithium – a key part of EVs – trigger a cross-border “gold rush.”
Last year, 425 people died of extreme heat in Phoenix. Stephan Goodwin was one of them. Today, why people who suffer from schizophrenia are more vulnerable to a hotter climate. And, what can be done to better protect them.
