Lithium and cobalt and other mines in Africa are slave labour run. They are massive environmental disasters that leave the land scarred and barren. Children are forced to slave labour in cobalt mines, where they will handle the radioactive material bare handed with no shielding or protection or healthcare, until they die. All so you can have a apple phone or tesla battery. The production of a "green" electric car battery results in more emissions than 10 years worth of average fossil fuel cars. There are no environmentally friendly disposal facilities for the hazardous waste of these batteries. Hell, even many early solar panels are approaching their lifespans and a huge environmental issue with their disposal approaching that no one talks about.
Electric cars are a wealth transfer. Reason to tax people for being evil nazis using gas and supporting oil industry while "green" companies employ slave labour and receive MASSIVE tax benefits and funding and carbon bullshit money to sell overpriced environmentally destructive vehicles - all with free propaganda making you feel like you are captain fucking planet saving the earth so you can sleep better at night without realizing you are getting bent over both ways.
One of the more interesting things about the automotive bail-out is that how Ford has run dicier and dicier cars through that plant, knowing that the government will prop them up should the cars not sell.
That factory went from making popular cheap cars, vans and trucks to making weird Mercuries and bizarre family commuters like the Flex. Shit with with weird potential but abysmal sales figures.
Of course they were able to convince the government to pay to upgrade their factory so they could make all-electric cars. (Which is still a niche market in this country because the current battery technology doesn't really work once you factor in Canadian winters. The top selling cars in the country are always the ones who will reliably start-up in the cold and get you to your destination with no fear of a breakdown in February.)
The real problem with corporate bailouts and "too big to fail" is that you end up with car companies who know that in this country, and this country only they can not only afford to fail, but they can profit from it in the long term.
Ford would have never tried this shit in any other country.
They did it here because they see our government as being suckers.
Hope it works out for them, although it probably won't and we'll end up bailing out another American auto company with our tax dollars.
Lithium and cobalt and other mines in Africa are slave labour run. They are massive environmental disasters that leave the land scarred and barren. Children are forced to slave labour in cobalt mines, where they will handle the radioactive material bare handed with no shielding or protection or healthcare, until they die. All so you can have a apple phone or tesla battery. The production of a "green" electric car battery results in more emissions than 10 years worth of average fossil fuel cars. There are no environmentally friendly disposal facilities for the hazardous waste of these batteries. Hell, even many early solar panels are approaching their lifespans and a huge environmental issue with their disposal approaching that no one talks about.
Electric cars are a wealth transfer. Reason to tax people for being evil nazis using gas and supporting oil industry while "green" companies employ slave labour and receive MASSIVE tax benefits and funding and carbon bullshit money to sell overpriced environmentally destructive vehicles - all with free propaganda making you feel like you are captain fucking planet saving the earth so you can sleep better at night without realizing you are getting bent over both ways.
One of the more interesting things about the automotive bail-out is that how Ford has run dicier and dicier cars through that plant, knowing that the government will prop them up should the cars not sell.
That factory went from making popular cheap cars, vans and trucks to making weird Mercuries and bizarre family commuters like the Flex. Shit with with weird potential but abysmal sales figures.
Of course they were able to convince the government to pay to upgrade their factory so they could make all-electric cars. (Which is still a niche market in this country because the current battery technology doesn't really work once you factor in Canadian winters. The top selling cars in the country are always the ones who will reliably start-up in the cold and get you to your destination with no fear of a breakdown in February.)
The real problem with corporate bailouts and "too big to fail" is that you end up with car companies who know that in this country, and this country only they can not only afford to fail, but they can profit from it in the long term.
Ford would have never tried this shit in any other country.
They did it here because they see our government as being suckers.
Hope it works out for them, although it probably won't and we'll end up bailing out another American auto company with our tax dollars.
Every Prius is an off-season pride float. Change my mind.
Trudeau would just escape with his billions and retire in China.