Mining companies are eager to dig up the ocean. That's a dangerous idea | Wendy Schmidt and Kristina Gjerde

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

66% : This moment marks a profound and rare opportunity when it comes to environmental protection.
60% : Renewable energy manufacturers and innovators should design their products with responsibly sourced minerals and with an eye to reclaiming minerals and collecting batteries for reuse.
57% : The resulting hydrothermal vent spews water at temperatures upwards of 500F. Surrounding the vent - and other underwater landscapes - are small knobs containing copper, cobalt and other minerals precious for renewable energy batteries.
55% : We need to move quickly toward a renewable energy future, but let's not mortgage the ocean to pay for it.
40% : We already know the damage that mining can cause on land.
36% : It's a cruel irony that renewable energy, at least at this point of technological development, is thought to require nonrenewable deep-sea minerals, pulled from ecosystems we know so little about.

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