'Cobalt Red' describes the 'horror show' of mining the element in the DRC : Goats and Soda : NPR #cobaltred
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Siddharth Kara
@siddharthkara
Author of "Cobalt Red: How The Blood of The Congo Powers Our Lives"
read.macmillan.com/lp/cobalt-red/
British Academy Global Professor
IG: siddharth.kara
Joined January 2010
Siddharth Kara’s Tweets
From King Leopold II To Big Tech: The Plundering of The Congo & The Invention of Modern Day Slavery | KPFA #cobaltred
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“We cannot and should not pursue a green energy transition at the expense of immense violence against the people and environment of central Africa. It can’t be ‘green’ for us and red for them”
on the reality behind cobalt mining in the DRC: youtu.be/dsypEzDDBQU
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I am deeply humbled by this review in , which perfectly captures the spirit of “Cobalt Red”
#cobaltred
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"Imagine a mountain of gravel and stone just avalanching down on people, crushing legs and arms, spines. I met people whose legs had been amputated, who had metal bars in where their legs used to be."
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TODAY: The human rights and environmental catastrophe behind our rechargeable batteries. We talk with about the people working in dangerous cobalt mines in the DRC. Cobalt is used in phone/electric car batteries. His book is 'Cobalt Red.'
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A message on the publication day of “Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives.”
#cobaltred
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Out tomorrow, COBALT RED by reveals how cobalt, the element used in almost every tech product with a battery, is not ethically sourced by the smelters/refiners used by big tech companies, as these photos reveal.
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Please see here some of my photos from the field during research on cobalt mining in the DRC:
"Harrowing images of cobalt mines in Congo where kids dig for $2-a-day" mol.im/a/11668015 #cobaltred
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A very engaging discussion with Joel Beasley on podcast about my book "Cobalt Red" and the conditions of cobalt mining in the DRC. #cobaltred
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Herein the truth of our rechargeable lives.
Children degraded.
Earth destroyed.
All for cobalt.
We have been made unwitting participants in this injustice by a global economic order that did not deem the people of the Congo worthy of basic dignity.
It is time for change.
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The phone in your pocket contains several grams of cobalt; some of it, as shown in the book “Cobalt Red,” was likely mined by people hacking away in toxic pits for subsistence wages.
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SOUND ON 🔊 You're going to want to listen to 's Author's Note from the COBALT RED audiobook, an unflinching investigation revealing the human rights abuses behind the Congos cobalt mining operation and the moral implications that affect us all--on sale 1/31!
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. discusses his book, "Cobalt Red," what companies should do to address the conditions of the miners and much more. newsweek.com/2023/02/10/cle
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COBALT RED by is an unflinching investigation that reveals the human rights abuses behind the Congo's cobalt mining operation--and the moral implications that affect us all.
Out next Tuesday, 1/31. Order now: bit.ly/3CTJUl0
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An author Q&A about “Cobalt Red” can be read here, published by
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To anyone who might be interested, Barnes and Noble is running a 25% off sale on book pre-orders from 25-27 Jan.
Preorder COBALT RED at BN.com and use code: PREORDER25 at checkout to get the discount. barnesandnoble.com/s/9781250284303
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Episode #332 of with host includes an incisive exploration of the economic, policy, and human rights implications of cobalt mining in the DRC.
Please listen here:
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Siddharth Kara is in the studio recording his powerful Author's Note for the COBALT RED audiobook, read by Peter Ganim. You won't want to miss this important and incredible audiobook on sale 1/31/23!
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Encouraged to see President Tshisekedi continue to call out the exploitative and disadvantageous nature of foreign mining operations in his country. The people of the DRC deserve better.
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So much of our electronic life is dependent on cobalt for rechargeable batteries. But much of that #cobalt is produced at horrendous cost to the men and boys who mine it. All of this is exposed in 's new book Cobalt Red, published on 31 Jan.
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Another shot of the grim wasteland at the other end of our rechargeable lives.
You will see no dignity or sustainability here...only a poverty-driven scramble for cobalt, leaving behind the utter ruin of people and earth.
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75% of cobalt - essential to many rechargeable batteries - is mined in the Congo, often in sub-human conditions. In Cobalt Red, Rights Lab & Global Prof Siddharth Kara reveals the human rights abuses behind this cobalt mining. Out Jan 31: us.macmillan.com/books/97812502
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Thank you for an engaging conversation about my book, "Cobalt Red" and the appalling conditions of cobalt mining in the DRC.
Please watch here: youtu.be/uYGhLG4_YE0
#CobaltRed
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This is not too far from the point at which Henry Morton Stanley began his epic journey to trace the Congo River, a journey that would unleash incalculable torment upon the people of the Congo for generations, up to and including today’s ignoble scramble for cobalt.
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Today I held a copy of “Cobalt Red” in my hand for the first time. The moment summoned a flood of emotions back to my first trip to the Congo in 2018. As the world hears the testimonies of the Congolese people, I pray we will see fit to end to this disgraceful scramble for loot.
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“Cobalt Red” hasn’t even been released yet, and cobalt stakeholders are already prepping their counter-narratives intended to mislead consumers that conditions in the DRC aren’t so bad. Don’t be fooled. Hear the testimonies of the Congolese people, then decide for yourselves.
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After receiving numerous emails of spoof accounts of me on Instagram, I have set up an account under the username: siddharth.kara.
I have posted one of the videos I posted on Twitter so that you know it is me.
See you over at IG as well!
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IMPORTANT:
I am not on any other social media sites other than Twitter.
I understand people are impersonating me on Instagram and other sites soliciting donations.
This is not me. I will never ask anyone for a penny.
Please don’t send anyone any of your hard earned money!
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Another day, another sack of cobalt gathered by a child in the Congo in hazardous conditions…earning him about a dollar, which likely means the difference between eating or not.
This the logic of a global economy whose kings of industry sacrifice human dignity for profit.
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More misinformation about cobalt to clarify:
More than 80% of EVs on road today have batteries with cobalt.
Transition in SOME models to LFP batteries does NOT remedy past 12+ years of harms of cobalt mining!
Most EVs will still use cobalt for many years to come.
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A lot of misinformation about cobalt, so let's get one thing straight:
Cobalt use for oil and gas refining = 4% of cobalt consumption, declining share, can be recycled.
Cobalt use for rechargeable batteries = 66% of cobalt consumption + growing share. This is the problem.
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Example of one of the numerous artisanal mining villages I documented for "Cobalt Red."
No electricity, no sanitation, closest school and medical clinic 9km away.
Shouldn't tech and EV companies do more to support the communities in the DRC that supply their cobalt?
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Artisanal miners dig for cobalt inside most industrial mines in the DRC, such as this one. It's plain as day for anyone to see.
As I describe in "Cobalt Red," most of this cobalt is sold via intermediaries back to the industrial mine, and from there into our gadgets and EVs.
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As automakers gather at #CES2023 to proudly announce their newest models of EVs, I wonder how much time they will spend discussing that this is the kind of hellscape from which the cobalt in their batteries is mined?
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There are thousands of babies in the DRC strapped to their mother's backs, inhaling toxic cobalt dust all day.
This teenager is putting her infant for a nap in a cardboard box, so she can clamber into a trench to scavenge for the cobalt that powers our lives.
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We're so excited to see COBALT RED as one of list of 10 New Books Coming in January! Don't forget to preorder the audiobook, narrated by , before #CobaltRed goes on sale 1/31/23! twitter.com/siddharthkara/
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