Media Contact:
Claire Hermann, chermann@earthworksaction.org
Background
Today President Trump signed an executive order purporting to encourage seabed mining within and beyond the US’s territorial jurisdiction. In practice, this means sending vacuum-like tubes thousands of feet underwater to suck up nodules containing minerals found near hydrothermal vents in the sea floor. Once minerals are harvested, the machinery dumps waste and leftover sediment back into the water, where it is dispersed along the current, moving and polluting the ocean and harming sea life in ways scientists do not yet fully understand. Scientists have warned that deep seabed mining could have extensive, inevitable, and potentially irreversible impacts on this incredibly biodiverse ecosystem.
Jurisdiction over mining in international waters belongs to the International Seabed Authority, which is in the process of establishing rules for deep sea mining. Thirty-two countries oppose the practice, citing a lack of research on the impacts to deep sea ecosystems. The ISA was created under a United Nations treaty signed by 170 countries (but not the United States).
Below is a statement from Aaron Mintzes, Earthworks’ Senior Policy Counsel
“This is another executive order that serves corporate mining interests alone. It prioritizes mining company profits over ecosystems that are essential for the health of the planet and perpetuates the reckless race for resources.
“The International Seabed Authority calls the shots on deep sea mining in international waters, not President Trump. Rules governing deep sea mining should be based on sound science, not corporate favoritism.
“The deep sea is a complex and understudied environment. The ecological risks of opening the deep sea to extraction before we fully understand the impacts is simply too high. We can’t protect our planet by destroying it.”
