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By Joyce McClure
“Although man’s record as a steward of the natural resources of the earth has been a discouraging one, there has long been a certain comfort in the belief that the sea, at least, was inviolate, beyond man’s ability to change and to despoil. But this belief, unfortunately, has proved to be naïve.” —Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us (1951)
By August 22, Virginians have an opportunity to weigh in on a decision that could shape the future of our Atlantic coast.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has extended the public comment period on whether to move forward with the first step toward possible commercial mineral leasing in more than 2,700 square miles of federal waters off Virginia’s coast. It is part of a broader national effort to explore offshore critical minerals not only in the Atlantic, but also near American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Alaska and even in international waters of the Pacific.
It would be easy to dismiss this as another federal regulatory notice.
It isn’t.
The administration argues that developing these resources is essential to reducing America’s dependence on China for the critical minerals needed for advanced electronics, batteries, renewable energy technologies and military systems. Given today’s geopolitical realities, that argument deserves to be taken seriously.
So does another question.
Before we ask what lies beneath the Atlantic seabed, have we fully considered everything the Atlantic already gives Virginia?
Every day, the ocean supports our ports, our seafood industry, our tourism economy, our military readiness, our scientific research and thousands of Virginia jobs. It is home to one of the world’s busiest naval complexes, one of America’s most important ports and marine ecosystems that sustain commercial fisheries, migratory wildlife and coastal communities.
The Atlantic is already one of Virginia’s greatest assets.
When I first read about the proposal, I reached for a dog-eared paperback on my bookshelf.
My copy of Rachel Carson’s The Sea Around Us has traveled with me from Texas to Micronesia to Virginia—and many places in between. Its pages are yellowed, its cover creased and its spine cracked from being read and reread over more than half a century.
As a little girl growing up on the Gulf Coast of Texas, I dreamed of becoming an oceanographer. My mother and I spent hours walking Padre Island when it was still a pristine stretch of dunes, sea grass and blue-green water stretching to the horizon. I collected shells, memorized the world’s major ocean currents and wore out Carson’s books.
Life eventually took me in another direction, but ten years ago, a brief stint in the Peace Corps sent me to the remote island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia where I lived for five years, followed by two years on the nearby U.S. Territory of Guam before eventually making Virginia my home.
Living on those small islands surrounded by thousands of square miles of open ocean changed the way I thought about the sea around us.
When I give talks about Yap, I often tell the audience to look in their kitchen pantry. There’s a good chance the can of tuna on the shelf came from waters near where I once lived. I jokingly call the Federated States of Micronesia “the home office of tuna.”
People smile. Then they realize something.
The oceans connect us.
Virginia and Micronesia are separated by half a world, yet they share more than most people imagine. Both depend on healthy oceans for fishing, shipping, tourism and national defense. Tuna migrate through both regions. Endangered sea turtles, whales, dolphins and seabirds depend on both. The sea sustains economies, communities and cultures in ways that are easy to overlook until those waters are threatened.
The same is true beneath the surface.
Most people picture coral reefs as tropical gardens bathed in sunlight like those surrounding Yap and Guam. But reading Carson’s books, I learned that our own Atlantic has remarkable coral reefs as well.
Hidden hundreds of feet below the surface, ancient cold-water coral reefs stretch along the continental margin of the southeastern United States. Like tropical reefs, they provide habitat and nursery grounds for countless marine species. Whether in the warm lagoons of Yap or the cold, dark waters off the Atlantic coast, reef ecosystems provide shelter and nursery habitat for species during the earliest stages of life. Disturb one part of that system, and the consequences can ripple far beyond the reef itself.
Ironically, the same federal government considering offshore mineral development is also funding research to better understand the deep Atlantic’s “canyons, coral forests, and methane seeps”—fragile ecosystems that scientists acknowledge are still poorly understood. BOEM’s own Deep SEARCH program exists because researchers are still trying to understand how these deep-ocean ecosystems function and how they might respond to human disturbance.
Scientists are still trying to understand what deep-sea mining could mean for one of Earth’s least understood environments. Federal researchers have warned that the connections between seafloor mining, midwater ecosystems and commercially important fisheries need to be better understood before the full significance of mining impacts can be assessed.
Marine biologist Diva Amon, one of the world’s leading deep-sea researchers, recently observed that “there’s a lot more research that needs to be done to be able to make an informed decision” about deep-sea mining and its potential impacts on ocean ecosystems.
That uncertainty should matter to Virginians. Not simply because we care about whales or sea turtles. Not simply because we value healthy oceans.
But because the Atlantic already works for us every single day.
It feeds us. It protects us. It powers our economy. It strengthens our national security. It connects Virginia to the rest of the world.
Recognizing the significance of the proposal, Virginia’s Democratic congressional delegation successfully urged BOEM to extend the public comment period until August 22, arguing that Virginians needed more time to evaluate the first proposal of its kind in the Atlantic. Whether one supports or opposes offshore mineral development, more than 2,700 square miles of Virginia’s offshore waters deserves careful public consideration.
The question before us is not whether America needs critical minerals.
It almost certainly does.
Nor is it whether mining should never occur.
The question is whether we know enough about one of Earth’s least understood environments to make informed decisions about changing it—and whether we’ve fully accounted for everything the Atlantic already provides before deciding to industrialize part of it.
Whether you eat Virginia oysters, vacation in Virginia Beach, serve in the Navy, kayak the Chesapeake, earn your living from the sea—or simply hope your grandchildren inherit a healthy Atlantic—this decision belongs to you.
My dog-eared paperback copy of The Sea Around Us still sits on my bookshelf. It has traveled with me from Texas to Micronesia to Virginia—and many places in between. Rachel Carson taught me to marvel at the ocean. The people of Yap taught me to respect it. Virginia has given me a reason to speak for it.
Before we decide what is worth taking from the Atlantic, perhaps we should first decide what the Atlantic itself is worth.
Want to learn more? Read the proposal. Decide for yourself. Then get a sample letter and submit a comment to the BOEM – Virginia Mineral Activities, You can also find the official Federal Register notice extending the comment period to August 22 here: Federal Register Notice (Extension to August 22, 2026)
