Oppose Deep-Sea Mining Before It Causes Irreversible Ocean Damage

Block any expansion of deep-sea mining. The science is unambiguous: these ecosystems do not recover. A 2020 study in the Pacific's Clarion-Clipperton Zone found a 43% reduction in biodiversity in affected areas even decades after a simulated disturbance. The metallic nodules targeted for extraction take millions of years to form, and the species living on them exist nowhere else on Earth. Once destroyed, they are gone permanently. The minerals argument doesn't hold up either. Companies like Redwood Materials and Umicore are already scaling battery recycling and urban mining to recover cobalt, nickel, and lithium from e-waste — without touching the ocean floor. Sodium-ion and solid-state battery technologies are reducing demand for these minerals altogether. We don't need to sacrifice the deep sea when viable alternatives exist and are already in use. Chile, Palau, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, and the Melanesian Spearhead Group have all implemented moratoriums. The U.S. should be leading on ocean protection, not falling behind small island nations that are already on the frontlines of this fight. Support a moratorium on deep-sea mining now.