Guam and Samoa leaders say they learned about seabed mining plans from the news
Trump administration seabed mining plans for Guam, American Samoa, and the Marianas leave territorial leaders with no vote and no seat at the table.
The Trump administration is pressing ahead with plans to lease tens of millions of acres of Pacific seafloor around Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands to mining companies seeking copper, nickel, manganese, and rare earth elements for batteries and military technology. Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero said she found out about the plan by reading a news article, and later learned the leasable area had doubled without her being told in advance.
Because these islands are U.S. territories rather than independent nations, their leaders have no vote in Congress and no seat at the international body that regulates seabed mining, even though residents rely heavily on tuna fisheries and coastal ecosystems that could be affected. Earthjustice has sued on behalf of conservation groups, arguing regulators have not assessed the risk to whales and sea turtles protected under the Endangered Species Act.
More than 45 countries have called for an international moratorium on deep-sea mining, and independent Pacific nations such as Palau have banned it in their own waters, a choice unavailable to U.S. territories. One proposed benefit-sharing plan from a mining company remains non-binding, leaving territorial leaders pushing for a legislated share of any revenue.
Based on reporting by Anita Hofschneider and Sachi Kitajima Mulkey for Grist. Read the original: https://grist.org/energy/deep-seabed-mining-pacific-trump-guam-guerrero-samoa/
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
