Meanwhile, electric vehicles are promoted by environmentalists as a means to help fight climate change.

When the Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt announced plans to build a multibillion-dollar “gigafactory” in Quebec, the proposal was heralded as a win for Canada’s ambitions to become a global green energy powerhouse – and lauded as an environmentally sensitive project which would minimize harmful emissions.

Four months later, however, protesters are describing the sprawling plant an “ecocidal disgrace”, and driving steel bars and nails into trees, to prevent the company from clearcutting forests and destroying wetlands ahead of construction.

With nearly half of global emissions from automobiles, the European battery giant says plants like its future Northvolt Six facility, which it claims has a low carbon footprint and on-site materials recycling, are critical in the multinational effort to electrify vehicles.

Oh the horror! A successful electric vehicle battery plant that would like to expand operations that would create new jobs as a result. But don’t its owners dare disturb nearby wetlands and forests in order to do so.

Like has been seen many times with so-called renewable energy facilities (such as wind and solar farms), we see environmentalists conduct their usual bait-and-switch routine. On the one hand, they pitch electric vehicles as a way people can fight climate change. Then eco-radicals find any excuse to try and block their construction or expansion.

Actions speak louder than words and its abundantly clear environmentalists not only oppose so-called renewable energy sources but also electric vehicles. They would obviously prefer people live in a dark ages while people transport themselves by horse and carriage. But wait, PETA is nearby to oppose using the horses due to animal abuse or something.