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letsdothis3 ago

Borgerson shared this article on FB 3 years ago: http://archive.is/BtBtK

Arctic nations joust but North Pole payoff may be years away

By DAVID J. LYNCH | Bloomberg News | Published: August 28, 2015

WASHINGTON — Even as melting Arctic glaciers threaten to swamp shorelines, nations from Russia to the United States are betting that warming temperatures also will unlock trillions of dollars in new wealth.

"It is potentially the biggest strategic opportunity in America since the Louisiana Purchase in 1803," said Scott Borgerson, a former Coast Guard officer and now an adviser at Catalyst Maritime.

President Barack Obama begins a three-day Alaska trip on Monday to underscore the urgency of combating climate change. His visit comes as the Arctic's potential for oil and gas production and shorter trade routes when the ice melts puts it at the crossroads of economics and geopolitics.

Already, the polar economic dawn includes server farms for companies such as Facebook and Google, which enjoy lower cooling costs in the north. Possible future rewards include an estimated 90 billion barrels of oil and 1.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that await discovery in the Arctic, with the vast majority located offshore, according to a 2008 U.S. Geological Survey report.

Any big financial payoff, however, is probably decades away. Falling commodity prices are discouraging exploration for Arctic oil and gas, while new trade routes across the top of the world are falling short of expectations.

"Arctic development is a lot slower than people thought," says Malte Humpert, executive director of the Arctic Institute, a Washington-based policy group. "The hype is wearing off. It'll be many, many years before we see the development people have been talking about."

That hasn't deterred Russia, which has been the most assertive, and theatrical, in advancing its claims. In 2007, a pair of Russian mini-subs descended more than two miles below the polar icecap to plant a titanium flagpole on the North Pole's seabed, a purely symbolic gesture.

Russia, which boasts half the Arctic coastline and depends on the region for roughly a fifth of its national economic output, is expanding its Northern Fleet, upgrading regional facilities and staging unannounced military exercises.

"The Arctic's incredibly important to Russia," says Heather Conley, a former State Department official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "They're basing their future economic development on it."

Russia's not alone. Canada and Norway are preparing their militaries to defend territorial claims and forestall a 19th century-style resource grab. The cash-strapped U.S. Navy is concentrating for now on improving its ability to operate in the unforgiving north.....

Article continues...

letsdothis3 ago

Catalyst Maritime http://catalystdc.com/practice-areas/maritime-domain-management/

Catalyst Maritime is a consortium of experts and companies that view the maritime domain as a vital system driving a country’s economic growth. All of the elements of the maritime domain system are related and should be managed accordingly. Oil and natural gas development, port development, and coastal tourism are all connected to maritime environmental protection, pollution prevention and response, and safe waterways management. Fisheries and other maritime resources, search and rescue, and sovereignty assertion are also part of the maritime domain system...

Management Team

Randy Beardsworth; Albert Antoine; Jeffrey C. “Jeff” Robertson

Advisors

Dr. Stephen Flynn; Juliette Kayyem; Dr. Scott Borgerson; D. Brian Peterman; Cosmo Perrone