Daily Kos

Drilling for Oil in Santa's Yard

by smokeymonkey

Thu Aug 02, 2007 at 10:05:48 AM PDT

Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.org

The Arctic Ocean will soon be like any other ocean.  Nations once separated by permanent sheets of ice will begin commerce.  An ocean full of fish previously unavailable will be open to fishermen of many nations.  Cruises to the north pole will soon be commonplace; but no one will be able to meet Santa Claus, because what might be the last undiscovered oil and gas reserve of significant size on the planet will be exposed.

Such abundant and historically unavailable resources cannot be ignored by those countries who would stand to benefit from their exploitation.  From tourism to fish to natural gas, the Arctic Ocean of the future is an ocean awash in untapped opportunity.  What is the response to the new frontier by those most interested nations?  Greed.

Introduction

Every country in the world is seeking to expand, to any extent, its reserves of fossil fuel resources.  The United States is lucky to have some reserves in its domestic territory.  Despite that, our demands for oil require importation of a majority of our supplies of crude.  We hear, every year, politicians proclaiming the need to expand drilling exploration.  Coastlines and whole ecosystems are threatened by this desperate will to expand.  Nevermind that it is futile; we will never produce enough oil to satisfy our demand.  It is the severe ecological damage done to some of the most pristine environments on earth that should prevent such ambitions.

In Why Not to Drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, I made the case for preventing further drilling on the North Slope of Alaska.  The Arctic Ocean is just a stone's throw from that region.  Our efforts to prevent the destruction of the Arctic ice sheet may have failed already, for the recession of ice is well-documented and rapidly increasing.  Still, there is no reason to allow what should be the most protected region on earth (aside from perhaps Antarctica) to be drilled for a resource that should be obsolete, namely oil.

Once it became apparent that climate change was real and the extent of the Arctic ice sheet was diminishing, interest in the future of the Arctic Ocean was kindled.  Russia has been vigorously staking its claims for nearly a decade.  Canada and Norway have proposed a plan to divide the Arctic in their favor.  Denmark, due to Greenland's proximity, has a dispute with Canada over a spec of land that might influence their future drilling rights.  The US, as well as other countries neighboring the Arctic, are interested in how these future resources will be distributed.

Click here for a map of the Arctic

Shipping

The fabled Northwest Passage exists.  Yes, there is a route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean that does not require a trip around South America or through the Panama Canal.  It is, unfortunately, a passage that is only open for a couple of weeks a year, when the ice covering the coastlines of Canada and Alaska are melted sufficiently.  If that ice were to receed enough to leave the passage open for months, or even permanently, international shipping would undergo a revolution.

This is not a prognostication; it has begun to happen.  Take the case of the Port of Churchill.  It was purchased from the Canadian government for a paltry amount in 1997.  It now has the potential, due to climate change, of being a nexus for Arctic shipping.  In fact, the Canadian transportation minister recently congratulated the Port of Churchill for its second earliest shipping date in history.  The earliest was in 2000.

Click here for a map of the Arctic passages

Fishing

With greater areas of water freed of the polar ice cap, fishing boats can seek their prey in regions previously inaccessible for the majority of the year.  Also, the warming waters of the world's oceans are driving species into different regions, sparking migrations of fish to higher latitudes.  Again, this is not some prediction.  It is factually happening today.

BBC News  The vast ocean stretches all the way to the frozen North Pole, and the waters are brimming with fish species, many of which are largely extinct in Europe's other oceans.

If the fish are extinct elsewhere, wouldn't it be prudent to support them in their last retreat, the top of the world?

Tourism

The Russian vessel Akademik Fyodorov reached the North Pole in August 2006.  It was the first transport vessel to reach the North Pole without an icebreaker.  In other words, vessels have, in fact, travelled to the North Pole when there was no ice to stop them.

Once at the North Pole, the ship will make a 20-minute voyage around the earth’s axis. After that researchers will sample water and ice, study currents, and take samples of oil from the seabed, Strugatsky said.

Oil

Oil interests in the region have, also, already begun.  The Shtokman field is being developed by the Russians, and they are currently seeking to stake their claim on the entire reserve in the region by planting a Russian flag on the polar seabed.  This would not have been possible a decade ago.

[Wiki, link above] Natural gas reserves were discovered in 1988, but the field was not developed owing to extreme arctic conditions and the depth of the sea.

It is ironic, then, that climate change could present new problems to exploration, as well.

Also Russian scientists have warned that the Shtokman's development will face greater problems as global warming unleashes vast icebergs into the Arctic.

Summary

Melting the polar ice caps is a bad idea.  It seems only a comedy skit would have energy executives going, "Oh, look, more oil," in response to the seemingly inevitable deterioration of conditions on the planet.  However, that seems to be the case.  I have no solution; I have but to showcase the evidence that no matter how desperate the situation is for the rest of the planet, oil and gas interests will prevail by sheer greed.  Make it not so.

Sources

Tags: Arctic, North Pole, oil, fishing, Russia, Rescued (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

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