"The Trump administration is creating a new office that critics say could weaken the environmental oversight of oil drilling and seabed mining in territorial waters." "The new federal office will undo a change made after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. Critics say it could reduce environmental oversight."
"The United States has spent nearly a year pursuing deep sea mining without cooperation from the rest of the world. Now, Japan has said it will help out." "The arrangement could signal a fracture in the decades-long effort among nations to reach consensus on how to mine the ocean floor while protecting ecosystems."
"On Wednesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration finalized a new rule making it easier for companies to apply for the right to mine the deep ocean floor."
"An international agreement to safeguard marine life is now in effect. Known as the High Seas Treaty, it represents the first time that international waters, which lie outside of any country’s jurisdiction and cover nearly half the globe, can be protected."
"The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it had received an application for seabed mining exploration in international waters, the first in its effort to encourage the controversial industry."
"After Trump pledged to open international waters to mining, The Metals Company sought U.S. permits. But other countries are raising legal concerns."
"A Canadian company announced Tuesday that its U.S. subsidiary submitted applications to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to mine the seafloor, sparking outrage by bypassing a U.N. agency that regulates deep international waters."
"China’s foreign ministry said on Friday that an executive order President Trump signed a day earlier to accelerate the permitting process for seabed mining in international waters “violates international law and harms the overall interests of the international community.”
"The White House is weighing an executive order that would fast-track permitting for deep-sea mining in international waters and let mining companies bypass a United Nations-backed review process, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the deliberations."
"The world needs massive amounts of critical minerals to power the transition to clean energy. But as countries and industries explore new mining opportunities, a major question looms: Can all of this extraction be done without the same environmental and human costs associated with fossil fuels?"
