Bush Urges Lawmakers to Stake Claim to Arctic Natural Resources

The outgoing President of United States has urged lawmakers to stake claims to Arctic’s vast and untouched natural resources. In a detailed policy directive, President Bush made it clear that Congress needs to reconsider the existing rules regarding control of the seabed. The President wants lawmakers to make arrangements for the U.S. to stake claim on area extending beyond Alaska.

In his directive the President urged the lawmakers to consider the economic, environmental and security interests of the country and take the required legal initiatives to stake claim to the rich natural resources of the Arctic. The directive said that increased human activity in the region and the phenomenon of global warning would provide new opportunities to tap the vast reserves of natural resources and that the United States should take appropriate steps to get hands on those resources.

In the recent past several Arctic countries have staked claim to the natural resources of the region, US and Canada sent ships to survey the offshore reserves while Russia, in a more dramatic show of strength, planted a Russian flag on the ocean floor near the North Pole and Denmark tried to strengthen its case by the virtue of its partial control over Greenland. But its very important the aspirations of the natives, the environmental consequences and the possible threat to animal & plant species are considered.

The Arctic is said to have vast reserves of oil, natural gas, gas hydrates and precious stones. In addition the melting of ice would open new trading routes which would also hold immense strategic importance and that the reason these countries have been aggressively pitching for their cases for rights on the Arctic land and seabed.

While all these nations are planning various steps of in the race for the Arctic resources, Greenland has sought greater independence from Denmark. In a November referendum, 75% voters opted for proposal to demand greater autonomy which would also include increased control over the regions natural resources and the revenues generated from them. This is critical development as it is important to engage the native population in determining the fate of the region and its resources.

Having said all that, a mad rush to the Arctic to grab its untouched resources would spell doom for the fragile and delicate ecosystem of the region. many species, including polar bears, are already under the threat of extinction and if these countries are allowed to exploit the resources it would definitely disturb the ecological balance of the region. Rising temperatures and changing climate are already transforming the region at a rate faster than what its species could adapt to. The supportive capacity of the region far exceeds its assimilative capacity and hence any increase in the human activities would further imbalance the ecological balance of the Arctic.

Image source: Luiz Castro at Flickr under Creative Commons License.

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