Bill > AR187

Introduced Session

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.

Committee Categories

Gerry Scharfenberger (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee (on 05/11/2023)

Official Document