Deleon Guerrero: BOEM Decision Ignores Public Comments and Undermines Local Control

Dr. Galvin Deleon Guerrero: BOEM Decision Ignores Public Comments and Undermines Local Control

 I am dismayed by the decision from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to open up the CNMI's seabeds for commercial leasing. The decision ignores 60,000 public comments that voiced opposition to the proposal, including concerns raised by Governor David Apatang and Governor Lou Leon Guerrero. Moreover, the decision undermines the CNMI’s ability to determine what happens in our own ocean waters.

UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS

When BOEM invited the community to submit public comments, I submitted a list of questions and concerns focused on the potential impacts on our environment, our cultures, and our economy. Regarding the environment, I urged BOEM to require comprehensive baseline environmental studies, developed with peer-reviewed rigor and reflecting a precautionary approach, before any leasing decisions are contemplated. Regarding culture, I urged BOEM to ensure consistent, meaningful, and ongoing consultation with cultural practitioners, man’amko, traditional navigators, and community leaders. 

And regarding economic impact, I noted that, currently, there is no example anywhere in the world where deep-sea mineral extraction has succeeded commercially without significant uncertainty or environmental concern. Given this reality, and given the CNMI’s limited capacity to absorb long-term environmental or economic liabilities, I urged BOEM to ensure that risks to tourism and fisheries are fully assessed and transparently mitigated and that community consultation is equitable and not influenced by the CNMI’s economic vulnerabilities.

PROTECT LOCAL CONTROL

However, it seems that these questions and concerns, as well as those of tens of thousands who submitted public comments, have been dismissed, which reflects a steady undermining of the CNMI’s right to participate as a meaningful steward of its surrounding waters. Our right to control our ocean was also recently undermined by the announcement to open up our waters to US commercial fishing, without any meaningful consultation with the people of the CNMI.

Unfortunately, our current Delegate has conceded revenue-sharing models that basically surrender our ocean’s resources to federal authorities. However, we should fight to protect those resources. That is why I agree with CNMI Representative Marissa Flores who has called on the federal government to guarantee that the CNMI shares in the ownership, management, and long-term benefits of its offshore resources. That is something I will fight for if elected as the CNMI’s next Delegate to the US Congress 

We are descendants of seafarers that navigated the Western Pacific to settle on these islands. For centuries, our peoples have sailed these waters, fished them, and taken care of them. It is our livelihood. It is our heritage. As such, decisions made thousands of miles away that affect our ocean must include us in a meaningful way. As your Delegate, I will ensure that our voice is heard, I will uphold our right to control our own waters, and I will fight to protect what we have inherited from our ancestors.