The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Thursday was one of those Washington moments that don’t make the evening news but still have an impact. In front of senators, Wesley Brooks, a soft-spoken EPA official with experience in regulatory affairs, made statements that cause mining executives to recline in their seats.
Trump has chosen Brooks to lead the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, a title so awkward that the majority of Americans are unaware of it. However, the bureau is important. It influences how the United States communicates with the rest of the world about plastics, chemicals, oceans, and, more and more, what’s under the waves. Additionally, Brooks, who works as a deputy assistant administrator at the EPA’s Office of Water, was quite explicit about his position.
He discussed “commonsense environmental policy.” He discussed important minerals. He discussed regulations pertaining to plastics in a way that sounded more like shielding the plastics industry from the public than shielding people from plastic. Career diplomats who have spent decades trying to portray the bureau as a steward of delicate ecosystems rather than an advocate for extraction find this kind of language objectionable.
But his framing of the seabed was particularly noteworthy. In words that sound almost nostalgic, like something from a resource memo from the 1950s, Brooks stated that he wants the bureau to assist the United States in “explore, exploit and defend” ocean frontiers. There’s a feeling that this isn’t a coincidental phrase. It is exactly what the Trump administration has been advocating since the executive order on deep-sea mining last year, which sparked an incredibly bizarre scramble involving treasure seekers, fans of Amelia Earhart, and at least one company engaged in legal action against the Spanish government.
Sitting with that for a moment is worthwhile. Companies with unusual histories are what keep the deep-sea mining industry together today. With exceptionally close access to this White House, the Metals Company, widely regarded as the front-runner, has transported thousands of tons of polymetallic nodules in test runs. According to its CEO, Trump signed the order while he was actually inside the building. After losing a protracted legal battle over gold and silver coins that Spain claimed, Odyssey Marine Exploration, another applicant, changed its focus from hunting sunken treasure to seafloor minerals. It’s kind of the point that these aren’t well-known brands. Who will win is still up in the air.
However, investors appear to think that someone will prevail. Over the past year, stock prices for businesses seeking seabed permits have increased significantly, despite findings from marine scientists indicating that the ecological costs may be high. Within months, biodiversity in test-mined areas decreased by about one-third, according to researchers. Since no one has been mining at scale for years, no one has data on what happens after years. No one in Washington appears to be slowed down by that uncertainty.
It’s difficult to ignore how at ease Brooks seemed to frame extraction as patriotism while watching his hearing. The phrase “American century” wasn’t nuanced. Regardless of the agency speaking, it presented seabed mining in conjunction with crucial mineral independence from China. This framing has proven to be politically resilient. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and NOAA have already been instructed to proceed more quickly. Seafloor sections from Alaska to American Samoa may be leased by late summer.
Although there was no indication of significant opposition during the hearing, it is unclear if Brooks will be confirmed with ease. It’s more obvious that industry kept a close eye on things and was pleased with what it heard. Whether science, permits, and actual ore processing capacity can match the political fervor remains a serious question. However, for the time being, the companies pursuing seabed leases are clearly in a positive mood, and Brooks’s testimony did nothing to change that.
