U.S. Coast Guard unveils plans for 'Base' in the Arctic

"I'm not sure I'm qualified to talk about the scientific issues related to global warming," the Coast Guard commandant, Admiral Thad Allen, said in an interview. "All we know is we have an operating environment we're responsible for, and it's changing."

Here we go...again, back to the Law of the Seas. The hunt and protection for oil is on....again. The rush to 'own' the newly melted 'arctic sea lanes' are in progress. The Coast Guard has announced they will build a small base 'probably' near Barrow, Alaska, the United States' northernmost town.

initially [the base]...

would be seasonal and would initially have just a helicopter equipped for cold-weather operations and several small boats.

But given continued warming, that small base, which could be in place by next spring, would be expanded later to help speed responses to oil spills from tankers that the Coast Guard believes could eventually carry shipments from Scandinavia to Asia through the Bering Strait. Such a long-hoped-for polar route would cut 5,000 miles or more from a journey that would otherwise entail passage through the Panama Canal or the Suez. iht

aahh so the real reason arises...Oil. It's always about the 'oil'..

new activity abetted by warming seas, Royal Dutch Shell is preparing for exploratory oil drilling off Alaska's Arctic coast beginning next year.
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the Coast Guard icebreaker Healy, provides fresh evidence that the United States has much at stake in the region. The sonar studies found hints that thousands of square miles of additional seafloor could potentially be under American control. That floor might yield important deposits of oil, gas or minerals in coming decades, government studies have concluded. iht

Damn oil. It's always about the 'oil' . And because oil is involved..Mr. Bush, the 'resident in the oval office' has deemed it appropriate to chime in.

after years of fights in Congress, the United States appears poised to ratify. The treaty has the support of President George W. Bush, but ratification requires approval by two-thirds of the Senate.
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The commander of the Coast Guard's Alaska district, Rear Admiral Arthur Brooks, said in a telephone interview that the expansion of open water as summer sea ice pulls back means that "almost everything the U.S. does will be doable in the Arctic, we think."
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"Having a safe, secure and reliable Arctic shipping regime is vital to the proper development of Arctic resources, especially now given the extent of Arctic ice retreat we witnessed this past summer..."We can have such a regime only through cooperation, not competition, among Arctic nations. Denial of passage through international waterways, even though they may be territorial waters, and burdensome transit requirements will not benefit any nation in the long run." Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Sullivan iht

One thing America does exceptionally well is 'exploit'. Exploitation is what the Arctic has coming. Damn it..it's always about the 'oil'. The classy, all jazzed up advertisements by the major oil companies are a farce. The only way they'll invest in 'sustainable' resources is when they've depleted the planet of all her 'blood..oil'.

Evil Edwin Meese from the Heritage Foundation


Same Players. Different Scandal.