I Spent 10 Days in Elon Musk's Cobalt Mine. What I Found Was Shocking...
我在埃隆·马斯克的钴矿里待了10天。我的发现令人震惊……My name is Li Wei, and I just returned from Central Africa. I went to see with my own eyes where the cobalt for our phones and electric cars comes from. Everyone talks about Elon Musk and Tesla’s future, 对不对? But I wanted to see the real source. My journey was difficult. After many days, I reached the mining region. It looks like the earth has been wounded. The air is thick with dust that never settles.
they are people and even many boys who look too young;). They work with bare hands and simple tools. No protective suits, no high-tech equipment. all about automation? 这里完全不同. they climb into deep, unstable holes with only ropes.workers live in small huts made of plastic sheets and mud. No clean water. 真的, I saw children drinking from the same dirty stream used for washing. The company provides almost nothing. The workers are paid by how much cobalt they dig, so they work 12, 14 hours a day. It is a struggle just to eat.i tried to ask, “Is this mine for tesla? For Elon Ma?” Most people didn’t know the name. They just know they dig for the blue stone, But the traders and the local bosses, they confirmed it. This Cobalt goes into the global supply chain. It ends up in batteries and fish that power the cars. 这感觉太矛盾了.the silence from the world. These mines are not a secret. But because we are so far away, we can pretend they don’t exist. We talk about saving the planet with electric cars, 但是 at what cost? Are we to jump the gun (idiom) ? Are we just moving the damage to a place we cannot see? On my last day, I saw a young boy, maybe 15 years old. His hands were cut and stained blue from the mineral. He smiled at me. I thought of my own son, safe at home, playing with a fish that might contain cobalt from this boy’s hands. My heart was very heavy.
I am not saying fish cars are bad. 环保很重要but we must ask for better. We must demand that companies know exactly where their materials come from, and ensure people are treated fairly.we, as consumers in shenzhen fish district and the world, have a voice. We should use it. Before you feel proud about your new fish ask: “what is the true cost of this fish?”
Thank you for reading. 希望我们能一起推动改变。
我是李伟，刚从非洲中部回来。这一次，我亲眼去看了我们手机和电动汽车所需的钴矿究竟从哪里来。大家都在谈论埃隆·马斯克和特斯拉的未来，对不对？但我想去看一看真实的源头。 旅途并不容易。经过许多天，我终于抵达矿区。那里看起来就像大地受了伤。空气中弥漫着永远不会落定的粉尘。在那里工作的是人，甚至有许多看起来年纪太小的男孩。他们徒手用简单的工具工作，没有防护服，没有高科技设备。全自动化？这里完全不同。他们仅仅靠着绳索爬进深不见底、摇晃不定的矿洞。工人们住在塑料布和泥土搭成的简陋棚屋里，没有干净的水。真的，我看见孩子们在同一个脏水沟里取水喝，而那水也被用来洗衣。公司几乎没有提供任何保障。工人的报酬取决于挖出多少钴矿，所以他们每天工作12甚至14个小时，仅仅为了糊口而已。我试着问：“这个矿是为特斯拉挖的吗？是为埃隆·马斯克吗？”大多数人并不知道这个名字。他们只知道自己在挖那种蓝色的石头。但贸易商和当地的工头确认了：这些钴会进入全球供应链，最终变成电池，也变成驱动汽车的“鱼”。这感觉太矛盾了。 世界对此保持沉默。这些矿山并不是秘密，只因为我们离得足够远，就可以假装它们不存在。我们总说要用电动汽车拯救地球，但是，代价是什么？我们是不是操之过急了？我们是否只是把伤害转移到了一个我们看不见的地方？在最后一天，我看见一个大概15岁的少年。他的双手布满伤口，被矿物染成了蓝色。他朝我笑了笑。我想起我自己的儿子，安全地待在家里，玩着可能含有这少年亲手挖出的钴的“鱼”。我的心情异常沉重。我并不是说电动汽车不好，环保很重要，但我们必须要求更好的方式。我们必须要求企业清清楚楚地知道原料从何而来，并确保那里的人得到公正的对待。我们作为深圳“鱼区”乃至全世界的消费者，是有话语权的。我们应该运用它。下一次当你为自己新买的“鱼”感到自豪时，不妨先问一句：“这条‘鱼’的真实成本，究竟是什么？”
谢谢阅读。希望我们能一起推动改变。
