{"id":1094540,"date":"2021-12-07T12:58:46","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T17:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1094540"},"modified":"2021-12-07T12:58:48","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T17:58:48","slug":"report-electric-vehicle-supply-chain-includes-human-rights-abusing-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-electric-vehicle-supply-chain-includes-human-rights-abusing-countries\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Electric Vehicle Supply Chain Includes Human Rights Abusing Countries"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Freport-electric-vehicle-supply-chain-includes-human-rights-abusing-countries%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1094540&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/67bf0f_tesla-appears-finally-hit-imposed-goal-cranking-out-000-model-electric-e1532038556609.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">The left-wing media doesn\u2019t discuss it, but the automobile industry is reporting that as the Biden administration ramps up its push for more electric vehicles, the supply chain necessary to produce them is riddled with human rights abusing nations.<\/p>\n<p>The supply chain also includes countries that violate good environmental practices as electric vehicles are touted as the answer to saving the planet.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>The Automotive News website <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autonews.com\/manufacturing\/ev-supply-chain-scrutinized-over-human-rights-abuses-environment\">put the pieces<\/a> together:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"21.603128054741\">\n<p>The Democratic Republic of Congo supplies about <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/o\/NE4oJ\/https:\/\/pubs.usgs.gov\/periodicals\/mcs2020\/mcs2020-cobalt.pdf\">70 percent of the world\u2019s cobalt<\/a>, a key material for today\u2019s EV batteries. But <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/o\/NE4oJ\/https:\/\/www.wilsoncenter.org\/blog-post\/drc-mining-industry-child-labor-and-formalization-small-scale-mining\">according to Wilson Center, a U.S. public policy think tank<\/a>, cobalt mines in Congo rely on about 40,000 children \u2014 some as young as 6 years old \u2014 or about 16 percent of the 255,000 people who work in the mines. Workers are often paid less than $2 per day.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, China is responsible for <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/o\/NE4oJ\/https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/economy\/china-economy\/article\/3141844\/chinas-rare-earth-exports-surge-past-pre-coronavirus-levels\">90 percent of global rare-earth element supply<\/a> and is instrumental in processing raw materials for EV batteries around the world. But the country has been under fire for its environmental practices, as evidenced by an artificial, toxic lake in Inner Mongolia made of black sludge and hazardous chemicals that result from rare- earth mining.<\/p>\n<p>Human rights and environmental abuses in the supply chain are likely to come under greater scrutiny in the coming years as the demand for batteries increases. Automakers plan to roll out dozens of new electric models between now and the end of the decade.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>There are ways to address these issues in the supply chain, according to Abigail Wulf, director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/o\/NE4oJ\/https:\/\/secureenergy.org\/the-ambassador-alfred-hoffman-jr-center-for-critical-minerals-strategy\/\">Center for Critical Minerals Strategy<\/a>, an advocate for \u201cclean energy\u201d in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>That includes increasing domestic mining and processing capabilities and putting pressure on other countries to clean up their practices.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThe main thing is instituting a level of radical transparency within our supply chains,\u201d Wulf said. \u201cWe want to work with our allies to try to create, whether it\u2019s a new trade deal or trade agreement \u2026 to commit to sourcing things that adhere to high standards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd we want to use traceability frameworks, whether it\u2019s blockchain or something else, to prove that things actually do adhere to these standards throughout the entire supply chain,\u201d Wulf said.<\/p>\n<p>The trade magazine reported that some automakers and suppliers are addressing labor and environmental issues, including BMW, which in 2018 began working with a U.K. startup to use blockchain technology to ensure its electric vehicles used only \u201cclean cobalt\u201d and not materials mined with child labor, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/o\/NE4oJ\/https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-mining-bmw-blockchain-idUKKBN1GH2UP\">according to a Reuters report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Tesla, the world\u2019s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, has begun to use cobalt-free lithium-iron-phosphate batteries in many of its vehicles, and Ford and Volkswagen have said they want to follow suit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn addition to ethical reasons to move away from cobalt, auto companies see financial incentives,\u201d the website reported. \u201cMost of the world\u2019s cobalt is processed in China, where trade tension with the U.S. remains high.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden and the Democrats\u2019 so-called infrastructure bill includes provisions to increase domestic battery production and money for a \u201cdomestic rare- earth demonstration facility, which would extract and refine the materials.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wulf called those provisions \u201cbaby steps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need these baby steps to build up some of our capacity in the first place and then hopefully keep it going,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Penny Starr on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PennyStarrDC\">Twitter<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The left-wing media doesn\u2019t discuss it, but the automobile industry is reporting that as the Biden administration ramps up its push for more electric vehicles, the supply chain necessary to &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1094540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1094540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1094540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1094540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1094540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}