A review by albernikolauras
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara

challenging informative sad tense medium-paced

4.5

An excellent non-fiction book following the cobalt miners (& minors) that fuel the battery revolution happening throughout the world. Kara visits different mining towns, some of the mines themselves, and the places where the cobalt that is "illegally mined" is introduced into the cobalt supply in a systematic matter. He describes the systems that trap these miners in an endless cycle of poverty and disproves the claims that companies make for "child labor free cobalt" and "funding of schools in mining areas." Kara balances fact and statistic with human story as he gives names and faces to those harmed by our desire for progress at no thought of cost.
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