Bill Text: NJ AR58 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges President of U.S. and Congress to investigate environmental and labor risks of lithium-ion battery mining fields.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste Committee [AR58 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-AR58-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman GERRY SCHARFENBERGER
District 13 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Urges President of U.S. and Congress to investigate environmental and labor risks of lithium-ion battery mining fields.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Assembly Resolution urging the federal government to investigate lithium fields.
Whereas, Lithium, an alkali metal used to create batteries for electric vehicles, cell phones, laptops, and other consumer electronics, is an essential component to achieving a renewable-energy powered world; and
Whereas, Currently, lithium producers use one of two conventional extraction methods: hard-rock mining, which involves crushing, roasting, and acid leaching lithium-bearing ores, and brine extraction, which involves pumping salt-rich water to the Earth's surface from underground reservoirs that, over several months, evaporate and leave behind lithium-concentrated brine; and
Whereas, Both of these mining techniques pose a significant threat to the environment; and
Whereas, In Australia, extracting lithium from hard-rock mines requires an exorbitant amount of water, scars the landscape, and releases 15 tons of carbon dioxide emissions for every ton of lithium produced; and
Whereas, In Chile and Argentina, countries that struggle with water scarcity, extracting lithium from underground reservoirs requires an even greater amount of water, threatening the survival of indigenous communities in close proximity to lithium fields; and
Whereas, The lithium industry also threatens the safety of laborers, presenting a significant human rights challenge to the global workforce; and
Whereas, The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) produces 60 percent of the world's supply of cobalt, another crucial mineral in the production of lithium batteries, using young children in mining facilities; and
Whereas, Many of these cobalt mines in the DRC are owned by Chinese companies that manufacture lithium batteries and may be associated with the Chinese government; and
Whereas, Australia, Chile, China, and Argentina collectively produce 93.7 percent of the global share of lithium and, therefore, drive the lithium industry's negative impact on the environment and labor rights; and
Whereas, The United States imports the majority of its lithium from Argentina and Chile and its lithium-ion batteries from China; and
Whereas, In the interest of environmental safety and labor rights, the President of the United States and Congress should investigate mining projects in lithium fields; now, therefore,
Be It
Resolved by the General Assembly of the State
of New Jersey:
1. This House urges the President of the United States and Congress to investigate the environmental and labor risks of lithium fields.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the President of the United States, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, and every member of Congress elected from this State.
STATEMENT
This resolution urges the federal government to investigate lithium fields. Lithium-ion battery mining has grave environmental consequences. In Australia, Argentina, Chile, and China, the major global producers of lithium, lithium extraction yields high levels of water waste and carbon dioxide emissions and permanently scars the landscape surrounding lithium fields. Lithium battery manufacturing also presents a labor rights problem. Chinese lithium-ion battery manufacturing companies, which may be associated with the Chinese government, use child labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to mine cobalt, another essential mineral in lithium battery production. These four countries collectively produce 93.7 percent of the world's lithium shares and, therefore, determine the lithium industry's impact on the environment and labor rights.
Annually, to satisfy the growing demand for lithium batteries and renewable energy, the United States imports thousands of tons of lithium from Argentina and Chile and hundreds of thousands of lithium-ion batteries from China. To promote a greener future and safeguard children from labor rights violations, the federal government should investigate lithium fields.
