Should We Mine the Final Frontier?
Featuring Rachel Reeves 3rd November 2023, 11 AM PDT DescriptionJoin us for a conversation about the minerals at the bottom of the sea, which some call humanity’s only hope and others believe will lead us into an ecological disaster. The minerals, which are found miles deep, include manganese and cobalt, a component of batteries in cellphones, laptops, electric vehicles, and other technologies considered essential to the energy revolution. Corporations in North America, Europe, and Asia are planning to mine the deep sea, which is less known and studied than the moon. Opponents of mining point out that the process is likely to inject toxic heavy metals into food chains that connect the ocean to ocean people, particularly in the Pacific Islands, where the densest concentrations of seabed minerals exist. They add that the ocean and seabed are storage lockers for carbon that sinks out of the atmosphere. Will deep-sea minerals save us? Or destroy eco- and social systems that have existed for millennia? Let’s talk about it.
Read our Dig series: ‘The Scramble for Deep-Sea Minerals‘.
People
Rachel Reeves
Rachel Reeves is an independent journalist who has written about everything from fisheries management to music for such publications as 'Hakai Magazine', 'New Zealand Geographic', 'Pacific Standard Magazine', 'Honolulu Civil Beat', 'BeachLife Magazine', 'Peninsula Magazine', and 'The Diplomat'.
Dr. Lisa A. Levin
Dr. Lisa A. Levin is a Distinguished Professor Emerita at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego. She is the former director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation and studies coastal and deep-sea ecosystems. Dr. Levin is a co-founder of the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative and a co-lead of the Deep Ocean Observing Strategy.
Imogen Ingram
Imogen Ingram is an indigenous leader in the Cook Islands and serves on the executive committee of the Koutu Nui, a statutory body of traditional leaders. She is also the secretary-treasurer of the Island Sustainability Alliance (ISACI), a Cook Islands non-profit organization set up to advocate for environmental and development issues.
Rima Browne
Rima Browne is the senior knowledge management officer at the Seabed Minerals Authority, the regulator of seabed minerals activities under Cook Islands jurisdiction. She is this year’s recipient of the International Seabed Authority Secretary General’s award for excellence in deep-sea research.
Alanna Matamaru Smith
Alanna Matamaru Smith is the director of Te Ipukarea Society (TIS), an environmental non-profit organization based in the Cook Islands. She has a master's in conservation biology from New Zealand's Victoria University.