Economic Potential
The only immediate mining potential is on and immediately offshore of the islands themselves (viz phosphates, sand, gravel, and coral) which would conflict with their protected status per the study. Iron deposits on a few seamounts are also mentioned as an intermediate possibility but no energy resources are identified. The islands have phosphorite and guano resources.
In comparison, the Seward's Folly article, regarding the purchase of Alaska in 1868, has this 1913 reflection from historian Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer regarding what the New York World said on April 1, 1867:
The New York World said that it was a ‘sucked orange.’ It contained nothing of value but furbearing animals, and these had been hunted until they were nearly extinct. Except for the Aleutian Islands and a narrow strip of land extending along the southern coast the country would be not worth taking as a gift…Read more about this topic: Howland And Baker Islands
Famous quotes containing the words economic and/or potential:
“Just as men must give up economic control when their wives share the responsibility for the family’s financial well-being, women must give up exclusive parental control when their husbands assume more responsibility for child care.”
—Augustus Y. Napier (20th century)
“Democracy is timelessly human, and timelessness always implies a certain amount of potential youthfulness.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)