You're really going for the straw-man argument here I see, there is a huge difference between launching a space ship and creating a new way to mine the earth and destroy the environment.

I understand that they have this little catch-all:

> GSR has said it will only apply for a mining contract if the science shows deep seabed minerals have advantages, from an environmental and social perspective, over relying solely on land mining.

But I'm not going to hold my breath thinking that if they find a rich-enough deposit of minerals - that they wont suddenly discover enough "advantages" for the ocean to now be open to the same decimation as land mining has seen for many years.