Across the Northern Marianas, businesses are struggling to reopen as the islands operate on a patchwork of generator power. Grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants and hardware suppliers are running limited hours because of fuel shortages and the high cost of keeping generators online.

By Ron Rocky Coloma Federal plans to open waters near Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa to seabed mining could allow long-term leases to be issued before full environmental reviews are completed, legal experts warn. The concern centers on how the U.S. government is using the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to advance offshore mineral development, a process that experts say prioritizes early lease sales while deferring deeper scientific analysis to later