Ford's electric F-150—a vehicle President Joe Biden gushed over during a test drive at a Ford factory last year—gets its metal from a refinery that locals say is killing them, according to a new report.
Ford sources aluminum for its all-new electric pickup from a Brazilian refinery that's facing a class-action lawsuit for sickening thousands of nearby residents, Bloomberg reported Sunday. The refinery, the suit says, is giving locals fatal cases of cancer, neurological dysfunction, and birth defects. One woman who lives near the plant told Bloomberg that she and seven others in her family now have cancer, while her grandson's organs broke through his skin at birth. "Every single day we die a little bit," the woman said.
The revelation comes as an embarrassment for Biden, who has promoted the truck as an example of a "clean" vehicle that will help "save the planet." Biden test drove the electric F-150 during a May 2021 visit to a Ford manufacturing plant in Michigan, which saw the Democrat repeatedly praise the pickup for its speed and size. "I got to drive that sucker. It's quick, zero to 60 in 4.1 seconds," Biden said. "And it's a big boy, it's a big one."
While Biden has pledged to create a "green energy economy" that helps the environment and creates American jobs, the green energy industry is rife with supply chain issues that contradict that pledge. Many of the world's biggest solar companies, for example, are accused of relying on Chinese forced labor, and crucial minerals used in electric cars and other so-called clean technologies come from mines in Africa, South America, and Asia that can generate dangerous pollutants.
The White House did not return a request for comment. Ford told Bloomberg that it is investigating its supply chain following the outlet's report.
In addition to his test drive, Biden praised Ford's electric pickup during an August 2021 White House event, during which he said there's "no turning back" from electric vehicles. "It’s incredible, just like the other vehicles that are behind me today," the Democrat said of the truck. "They’re a vision of the future that is now beginning to happen, a future of the automobile industry that is electric—battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, fuel cell electric. It’s electric, and there’s no turning back."
Biden was not the only top Democratic official to call the electric F-150 "clean." After the president drove the pickup, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the incident showed electric vehicles are "clean" and "the future."