She governs a US territory. But she has no say in who mines its waters.

Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero says she learned of the Trump administration's plan to lease millions of acres of Pacific seafloor to mining companies only after a reporter's inquiry prompted her advisor to send her the story. She called the Interior Department's Bill Hague, who reassured her mining wouldn't proceed without community support, and told him plainly she did not support the plan.

The Marine Minerals Administration is auctioning access to 31 million acres around American Samoa and more than 67 million acres around the Mariana Islands, about half bordering a national marine monument. Earthjustice has filed lawsuits on behalf of conservation groups arguing the government hasn't assessed harm to Endangered Species Act-protected animals like whales and sea turtles.

Unlike neighboring Pacific nations that can decide mining questions themselves, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands have no voting representation in Congress and cannot vote for president, leaving federal decisions to be made largely without their input. A rights advocate called the territories ‘practically invisible’ within the colonial framework that still governs them.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.