22 THE CAAR COMMUNICATOR GHG UPDATE because they have strong bonding characteristics. They are also difficult to purify. These processing issues are all features that contribute to their expected higher value—when China allows it. When mining, the materials you want are always less readily available than the other stuff you are moving around. It’s why large amounts of ore are required to provide the small amount of rare elements wanted. In the current production methods used by rare earth facilities, much waste is produced—and not just in rocks or the labour and machinery to get to it. No, we’re talking about harmful-to-human types of waste such as radioactive water, toxic levels of fluorine, and the multiple types of acids you wouldn’t want in your breakfast juice. We did find a report or two online regarding workers—not in Canada or the US—at rare earth mining sites suffering from above-average instances of cardiovascular, respiratory, and nervous system problems and higher incidences of cancer, especially in places where tailings were dumped in ponds near human settlements. However, we cannot verify the accuracy of this report. It may be 100 percent accurate, but maybe not. If we are looking at the sustainable footprint of a BEV vehicle, we might also want to consider the factors surrounding the manufacture of components used to make up a “green” car. It’s like the owner of a product telling everyone that the main ingredient comes from sustainable farming. That may be 100 percent accurate. However, how did the product get shipped to the store? What efforts went into producing the packaging? What about the packaging substrate itself, or the printing process—what powers the printer, and what types of ink does it use? How are those inks made, packaged, and shipped to the consumer? And that’s just scratching the surface regarding printing. When it comes to a green footprint, being completely green and organic is complex. Where does one draw the lines, even for those using an electric tractor for farming? But since the Government of Canada and the other 195 countries are trying to appease the rules surrounding the Paris Agreement, doesn’t everything need to be taken into account? Greenwashing and COP28 On December 3, 2023, the COP28 President, Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said that there is “no science” behind the demands for the phase-out of fossil fuels. Al Jaber also said that a phase-out of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas would not allow sustainable development “unless you want to take the world back into caves.” While we happen to like caves, we understand his exaggerated point. But phased out or not, coal, oil, and gas are finite, non-renewable fuel resources. We will run out of all three at some point soon enough. Current oil reserves are 1,650,585,140,000 barrels of oil. At our current rate of consumption—which will slow down as we utilize more alternative fuel sources—crude oil is expected to run dry by 2070, or just 46 more years before we enter a future resembling Mad Max. The whole concept behind the Mad Max movies is that they revel in the fact that humanity wasn’t smart enough to find alternative fuel sources for its vehicles, especially its V8s. The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP28, was the 28th such climate change conference, this time held between November 30 and December 12, 2023, at Expo City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. On the event’s last day, media outlet CNN’s lead online story blared: “World agrees to climate deal that makes unprecedented call to move away from fossil fuels, but ‘cavernous’ loopholes remain.” At first glance, it sounds earth-shattering. Then there’s that part about loopholes. Did OPEC agree to the death of the oil industry, or is that part of the “cavernous loopholes” mentioned? The announcement from COP28 is that the world will do its best to transition away from fossil fuels, but the language contained within the announcement allowed some countries to take minimal action. Al Jaber said, “We have language on fossil fuels in our final agreement for the first time ever,” calling it all a paradigm shift that could potentially redefine the global economy. Some countries claimed the deal signalled the end of the fossil fuel era, but other countries and climate advocates called the whole thing far from enough considering the urgency of the global climate crisis. Greenwashing? The Loopholes and the Oil As it stands, the just-signed-off agreement from COP28 has wording in the agreement that “calls on” countries to “contribute” to global efforts to reduce carbon pollution in ways that the individual country
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