President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that is intended to accelerate offshore -mining and to open new opportunities for extracting critical materials from the ocean floor despite the objections of environmental activists.
Trump's measure, signed on Thursday, commissioned the Commerce department to accelerate the revision and issuing of permits for exploration and commercial recovery under a law of 1980, according to senior white house officials who have informed reporters about the action.
Although the permits can cover territory that can be far beyond the outer continental plank of the US, the president also sets potential seabed in the coastal waters of the American coast on movement. According to Trump's order, the Interior Minister Doug Burgum is charged with drawing up a process for approving permits and granting licenses for seabed in American waters, under the same law that has long ruled oil drilling there.
The president also orders a series of reports, including an investigation into the use of the American National Defense Stockpile for minerals in sea deposits and an assessment of interest in the private sector in the activity.
Environmental activists are looking for stiffer international regulation of deep-sea-mining and warning that the activity can endanger important marine habitats and the organisms that live on the ocean floor.
The order sends the American International Development Finance Corporation and the American Export-Importbank to study options for offering financing and other support for exploration, extraction, processing and environmental monitoring of seabed sources.
The Trump guideline comes in the midst of increasing concern about new Chinese curbs on the export of rare earth materials used in batteries of electric vehicles, smartphones and other technology, a response to Trump's rates. The movements of China have been concerned about obtaining alternative supplies for the metals given the dominance of the country in mining and refining them.
Earlier: Deep Sea Mining Race reinforces if rules are still in the air
The deep -sea construction is seen by the administration as a different path for extracting rare earthly elements such as manganese, cobalt, nickel and copper, so that the US is demanded foreign suppliers and opening new export options. For more than 10 years, a seabed winning industry could yield 100,000 jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in economic benefits, said one of the civil servants of the White House.
Proponents of Mining have warned that the US and allies without action run the risk of forfeiting seabed mineral extraction to China. In a report earlier this month, Rand estimated that the production of seabed would lower metal prices and produce sufficient nickel and cobalt to meet the expected American demand in 2040. The materials are essential ingredients in lithium ion batteries.
With the help of Todd Woody and Joe Deaux.
This article was generated from an automated feed from the news agency without changes in text.
