Bill Text: NJ ACR190 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Condemns use of child and slave labor to mine cobalt for use in electric vehicle batteries, and urges State to take all action possible to discourage use to cobalt mined by child and slave labor.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 8-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-12-28 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee [ACR190 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2022-ACR190-Introduced.html

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ASSEMBLY CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 190

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

220th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED DECEMBER 28, 2023

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  ROBERT AUTH

District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)

 

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen Bergen, Tully, Scharfenberger, Barranco, S.Kean, Clifton, Assemblywoman Dunn and Assemblyman Peterson

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Condemns use of child and slave labor to mine cobalt for use in electric vehicle batteries, and urges State to take all action possible to discourage use of cobalt mined by child and slave labor.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  

A Concurrent Resolution condemning the use of child and slave labor to mine cobalt for use in batteries for electric vehicles and urging the State to take all action possible to discourage the use of cobalt mined by child and slave labor.

 

Whereas, Cobalt is one of the most important raw materials used in lithium ion batteries that power electric vehicles; and

Whereas, The International Energy Agency (IEA) is an autonomous intergovernmental organization that provides policy recommendations, analysis, and data on the global energy sector and whose 31 member countries and 13 association countries represent 75 percent of global energy demand; and

Whereas, According to the IEA, the demand for cobalt is projected to increase 20 times by 2040; and

Whereas, An estimated 60 percent of the world's supply of cobalt obtained through mining originates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the extraction of cobalt is performed by miners using hands, pickaxes, or shovels; and

Whereas, Almost 90 percent of the cobalt produced in the Congo is used in the production of batteries, including the batteries used by American, French, German, Japanese, and South Korean electric vehicle manufacturers; and

Whereas, Amnesty International and CNN have investigated and reported on cobalt mining in the Congo, finding that 20 percent of the cobalt extracted from mines in the Congo originates from largely unregulated mines where men, women, and children work in non-reinforced tunnels liable to collapse, without basic protective equipment such as gloves and face masks and breathing cobalt dust that causes fatal lung ailments; and

Whereas, The poor working conditions, treatment of the miners, and extremely low pay for mining work can be tantamount to slave labor; and

Whereas, According to UNICEF, 40,000 of the estimated 110,000 to 150,000 artisanal miners in the Congo are children between the ages of five and 17, who work 12 hours or more and are paid $2 per day; and

Whereas, Although the Congo has established strict laws against child labor in any form, particularly in mining, the government has not effectively enforced the laws because of the extreme poverty in the country devastated by decades of war; and

Whereas, Companies that use cobalt as a raw material have the power to assist the Congo in enforcing anti-child labor laws and improving conditions in cobalt mines by exercising due diligence in oversight of the production process through background checks on mines that extract the ore and the smelters that refine cobalt from ore, as well as sourcing cobalt from industrial mines that do not use child labor; and

Whereas, Cobalt reserves are found in other countries such as, in descending order of supply, Australia, Cuba, the Philippines, Russia, and Canada, which may provide alternative sources of cobalt; and

Whereas,  An emphasis on research to find alternatives to the use of cobalt in batteries should be pursued by the State, the United States Department of Energy, and battery manufacturers to reduce reliance on cobalt mined using child and slave labor; and

Whereas, The State's role in increasing demand for cobalt due to the policy commitment to increase electric vehicle use to address climate change requires the State of New Jersey and electric vehicle manufacturers in this country to bear the responsibility to address the human abuses involved in mining cobalt for the production of the batteries to power electric vehicles and to find alternative sources of cobalt and alternative materials for that purpose; now, therefore,

 

     Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (the Senate concurring):

 

     1.  The Legislature of the State of New Jersey condemns the use of child and slave labor to mine cobalt for use in batteries for electric vehicles, and urges the State to take all action possible to prohibit the use of cobalt mined using child and slave labor, and to find alternative sources and materials for those batteries.

 

     2.    Copies of this resolution as filed with the Secretary of State shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Governor of the State of New Jersey.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This concurrent resolution condemns the use of child and slave labor to mine cobalt for use in batteries for electric vehicles, and urges the State to take all action possible to prohibit the use of cobalt mined using child and slave labor, and to find alternative sources and materials for those batteries.