It’s OK to Mine the Rainforest for Car Batteries
Any attempt to reverse deforestation needs to acknowledge that growing palm oil kills way more trees than extracting nickel.
Palm oil plantations represent a far bigger threat.
Photographer: Aparna Nori/BloombergAttempts to prevent the destruction of the world’s rainforests are badly off track — and in the public mind, electric vehicles are increasingly to blame.
Felling of tropical woodlands resulted in greenhouse pollution equivalent to 3.7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide last year, the Forest Declaration Assessment, a group tracking deforestation, said in a report this week. Indonesia was the biggest culprit: Compared to the area that would have been cleared if the practice were on track to be eliminated by 2030, the country cut down an additional 530,000 hectares (1.3 million acres).