There are serious issues with the materials used in electric vehicles.
Not only are electric vehicles (EVs) considerably less friendly to the environment than those who would like to compel us to buy them admit, but also one of their key components relies, at least in many cases, on child labor.
The Biden administration in late September added lithium-ion batteries from China to the U.S. Labor Department’s list of products derived from child and forced labor. . . . The Labor Department said China imports almost 90 per cent of its cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where a significant amount of the mineral is produced through informal mines that employ children. The Asian powerhouse uses about 50 to 80 per cent of its cobalt imports to make battery chemicals and components, justification enough for including Chinese batteries among items produced with child labour, the Labor Department said.
It’s been known for years that child labour is prevalent among DRC’s artisanal and small-scale mines, yet this is the first time the U.S. government has chosen to include Chinese batteries, which dominate the market. Companies that use products from the list are in no danger of prosecution, but they might face uncomfortable questions from customers, activists and politicians.
The compendium, which also linked solar cells from China and crude palm oil from Indonesia to forced labour, “can be considered a risk radar used to raise public awareness” on labour exploitation, said Christine Feroli, a spokesperson for the U.S. Labor Department.
To be sure, the background to the Labor Department’s move is (mainly) that the the U.S. does not want to see China dominating either the EV sector or any part of it. That does not make the allegations any less true.
The mention of the role of forced labor in the production of solar cells is also worth noting. This too has hardly been a secret, but is a reminder of just how crass John Kerry’s comments last November about China, human rights, and climate change were.
To revisit once again the story from the New York Post:
US special climate envoy John Kerry sidestepped a question about China’s use of slave labor during the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference on Wednesday, saying the issue was “not my lane.”
Kerry was responding to a query from a reporter who asked the former secretary of state if he had mentioned human rights issues — including Beijing’s “use of forced labor in Xinjiang for building solar panels” — during recent meetings with Chinese leaders.
“Well, we’re honest. We’re honest about the differences, and we certainly know what they are and we’ve articulated them, but that’s not my lane here,” Kerry said. “That’s — my job is to be the climate guy, and stay focused on trying to move the climate agenda forward.”
Kerry’s comments were repulsive enough as it is, but it’s important to note that there is no neat split between “climate” and human-rights issues. In promoting his vision of climate policy, Kerry is effectively incentivizing the use of forced, and yes, child labor.
Josh Rogin, writing in the Washington Post in June:
Congress passed and Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act last December. It bans imports of any products connected to forced-labor practices in China’s northwest Xinjiang region, part of what the Biden administration has determined to be an ongoing genocide. Several officials, congressional staffers and experts have told me that some administration figures and business interests are fighting against strict implementation of the law. Those opposed are the same interests that fought long and hard to thwart its passage, as detailed in a new seven-part investigation released by the Dispatch. They are not about to stop now.
“The implementation will be contested, just as everything Xinjiang-related was contested last year,” said Michael Sobolik, a fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. “The mechanics are different, but the battle remains the same: climate interests pitted against human rights concerns.”
Some Biden officials, including State Department climate envoy John F. Kerry, have argued internally since last year that human rights concerns should not stand in the way of working with China on climate change. (Asked about this trade-off last year, Kerry said that “life is always full of tough choices.”) Beijing itself promotes this linkage, demanding the United States back off human rights criticism before it will cooperate on climate change.
And there you have it.