Deep-sea mining in the Arctic Ocean gets the green light from Norwegian lawmakers

abcnews.go.com:

Norway’s government has made a deal with two large opposition parties to open the Arctic Ocean to seabed mineral exploration, despite warnings by environmental groups that it would threaten biodiversity

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Norway’s minority center-left government and two large opposition parties made a deal Tuesday to open the Arctic Ocean to seabed mineral exploration despite warnings by environmental groups that it would threaten the biodiversity of the vulnerable ecosystems in the area.

Norway said in June it wanted to open parts of the Norwegian continental shelf for commercial deep sea mining in line with the country’s strategy to seek new economic opportunities and reduce its reliance on oil and gas.

The head of Greenpeace Norway, Frode Pleym, said the decision was “a disaster for the sea” and the mining would take place in “our last wilderness.”

“We do not know what consequences this will have for the ecosystems in the sea, for endangered species such as whales and seabirds, or for the fish stocks on which we base our livelihood,” he said.

Martin Sveinssønn Melvær of the Norwegian Bellona environmental group said the move was “completely contrary to scientific recommendations" and believed it was «a dangerous derailment in the fight against climate change to open up seabed minerals.”

The government – made up of the Labor and the Center Party – made the deal with the conservatives from Hoeyre and the Progress Party, Norwegian news agency NTB said.

It said they had agreed on a step-by-step opening process where the Norwegian parliament, or Stortinget, will approve the first development projects, in the same way as it has done for certain extraction projects in the petroleum sector.

Terje Aasland, Norway’s