Obama's Arctic Strategy Sets Off a Climate Time Bomb

The Guardian

One week ago, the Obama administration launched its National Strategy for the Arctic Region, outlining the government's strategic priorities over the next 10 years. The release of the strategy came about a week after the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President at the White House Complex hosted a briefing with international Arctic scientists.

Despite giving lip service to the values of environmental conservation, the new document focuses on how the US can manage the exploitation of the region's vast untapped oil, gas and mineral resources in cooperation with other Arctic powers.

National Strategy for the Arctic Region

Through the National Strategy for the Arctic Region, we articulate our strategic priorities to
position the United States to meet the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. We will
seek to prioritize and effectively integrate the work of Federal departments and agencies
with activities that are already underway in the State of Alaska and at the international level.
And we will partner with the State of Alaska and Alaska Natives, as well as the international
community and the private sector, to develop innovative solutions and new ways of operating.

I'm so beyond sick of lip service from those we elect to serve as our representatives in the USA (well I didn't for him last round). Alas this is nothing new from Obama regarding the environment or Global Warming, he's been paying lip service on it since day 1.

What enrages me the most is that the people that will make billions off this are the same people who have contributed the most to it's melting and who have contributed the most to the false debate with their position being there's not a goddamned problem.

Extraordinarily, the document offers just a single sentence acknowledging the potentially destabilising impact of rapid loss of Arctic summer sea ice:

"These consequences include altering the climate of lower latitudes, risking the stability of Greenland's ice sheet, and accelerating the thawing of the Arctic permafrost in which large quantities of methane – a potent driver of climate change – as well as pollutants such as mercury are stored."

To address such risks, the document promises obliquely that:

"Protecting the unique and changing environment of the Arctic is a central goal of US policy. Supporting actions will promote healthy, sustainable, and resilient ecosystems over the long term, supporting a full range of ecosystem services."

In other words, our policy could have really bad consequences but we're going to do it anyway. Well at least it's transparent, right?

I suppose the good news is that the arctic is already releasing methane and the Greenland Ice Sheet is already beyond compromise, so we can always point to that later when we're choking on the consequences of 200 years of idiocy, what's a few more years anyway?

Then again, the GOP will probably use this as opportunity to blame Obama for 200 years of man-made Global Warming.

reply to post by Kali74


oh, the "sanity"...

excuse me, but other than alaska, where does this "genius"
and/or his puppeteers get the idea that they can just go and drill for oil
and in general completely frack things up, on land that does not belong to them?

I don't think the russians will sit still for this.

on a lighter note, i don't think St. Nicholas, being patron saint of thieves, will be giving his blessing either.

and will the current puppet in chief, again fake swimming with his brats?

he certainly needs a splash of cold water in the face.

It's crack, people. That's what this boils down to. We're, socially, still completely addicted to oil & it's by-products, and we're completely unwilling to fund anything that isn't as quick in returns as oil is. Oh sure, we have some wind farms, some solar farms, a few alternative materials, but fact is, oil gives us energy & plastics faster than all the rest do, and we're not going to give it up until it's all gone. And in the process, we're going to trapse into areas we said we'd never drill in, and ruin it.

redacted - enough gloom - you don't need any help from me

:-)

qué será, será...

S&F Kali