Following President Trump's executive order to expedite seabed mining, the Metals Company submitted the first permit application. CEO Gerard Barron compared the order to a starting gun for mining minerals like cobalt and nickel from the Pacific Ocean's depths. Congress members debated environmental risks, with Democrats criticizing the initiative as reckless, especially given shifts in electric vehicle manufacturing towards alternative battery technologies. International condemnation arose over the U.S. plan to conduct seabed mining in waters deemed governed by international law, amidst no prior commercial-scale mining activity.
Less than a week after President Trump signed an executive order to accelerate seabed mining, the U.S. government received its first permit application from the Metals Company, one of the most ardent proponents of the as yet unproven practice.
Republican and Democratic committee members clashed over how much weight should be given to environmental concerns about the practice.
Representative Jared Huffman of California who is also the committee's ranking Democrat, said the Metals Company and Mr. Trump were moving seabed mining forward in a reckless cowboy manner.
No commercial-scale seabed mining has ever taken place.
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