Obama is about to be the first sitting U.S. president to visit the
Alaskan Arctic U.S. lacks icebreakers and Arctic deep-water ports Russia is
making moves to claim the Arctic for its needs, by Sean Cockerham, 8/30/15
As Barack Obama becomes the first
sitting president to visit the Arctic next week, the U.S. is falling behind
other nations in the critical region.
The U.S. is sitting on the sidelines
while Russia claims a huge swath of the Arctic, with its vast energy and
mineral resources, and China builds icebreakers to get in on the race for
influence in the north.
The U.S. hasn’t built a new heavy-class
icebreaker in 40 years, and even as oil drilling and vessel traffic increases
off Alaska’s northern coast, the nation hasn’t developed a deep-water port
within 900 miles.
There’s a lot at stake: Some 13 percent
of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30 percent of its natural gas are thought
to be in the Arctic, along with a trillion dollars in minerals. Sea lanes are
opening as ice melts because of global warming and shipping is on the rise,
bringing opportunities but also the need for ports and emergency response
vessels for rescues.
The Obama administration created an
Arctic strategy and is working to put it in place, said Fran Ulmer, chairman of
the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. But Arctic projects cost money, she said.
“As other countries in the Arctic move
forward with their plans to be better prepared for what is coming in the Arctic
– which is more human activity – hopefully Congress will step up and fund some
of the necessary infrastructure,” Ulmer said.
Ulmer said she hopes Obama’s visit next
week will “communicate to the rest of the United States how important the
Arctic is.” Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry will be in Alaska talking
about the impact of climate change, and Obama will visit the Arctic village of
Kotzebue.
Russia is wasting no time making its
moves in the Arctic. This month, Russia staked a claim to a massive swath of
Arctic territory, including the North Pole.
“That is a concern for us,” said Adm.
Paul Zukunft, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, citing the rise of
nationalism within Russia.
Zukunft said in an interview that
international cooperation – not a “land grab” – is what’s needed in the Arctic.
“As you start getting into these
sovereign conquests it erodes the ability to work collaboratively on safety of
life at sea, environmental protection, and the movement of fish stocks in the
high north latitudes,” he said.
Russia is claiming control over 460,000
square miles of Arctic territory and the rights to its energy and minerals.
The area is estimated to hold billions
of tons of oil and natural gas reserves, as well as an abundance of minerals
and gems. Russia is also asserting authority over the northern sea route from
Europe to Asian markets, which it hopes will become a major shipping hub as the
ice melts.
The 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of
the Sea allows nations to claim exclusive economic rights over areas of the
undersea continental shelf extending from their shores. Russia is trying to
prove to a U.N. scientific commission that its continental shelf extends far to
the north.
Denmark also has submitted a claim
based on its control over Greenland, and the commission cannot make a binding
decision on boundary disputes between nations. But Russia would get a boost in
international talks if its claim is upheld by the U.N. commission.
“It would give them the credibility of
an international tribunal of scientists saying, ‘This is good science.’ And
they would take that to the bargaining table,” said Betsy Baker, an Arctic law
expert.
Sean Cockerham: @seancockerham
Comments
We should ignore the UN, then quit the UN. We should stake
our claim now and take our slice of the North Pole.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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