Showing posts with label Arctic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arctic. Show all posts
10/22/14
Russia's First Arctic Base Opens for Business
Russia's plans to militarize its Arctic territories gained
pace on Wednesday with the opening of a new military base on Wrangel
Island, Alexander Gordeyev, a spokesperson for the Eastern Military
District told the RIA Novosti news agency.
Six weeks ago, Gordeyev announced that Russia had begun laying down prefabricated modular structures on Wrangel Island and Cape Schmidt — located far into the Arctic Circle, near Alaska in the Chukchi Sea. The bases are the first in a series of military installations that will pepper Russia's northern frontier.
These defenses, which will include revitalized Soviet bases as well as new facilities built from scratch, are part of a broader plan initiated under President Vladimir Putin to lay claim to the vast natural resources locked beneath the Arctic shelf.
Russia's claims on the Arctic — and the oil, gas and rare metals tucked below — compete with the ambitions of Canada, Denmark, Norway and the U.S., leading many observers to point to the region as potentially one of the world's most volatile regions.
Wrangel Island, classified as a nature reserve, is the first of these installations to come online, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday. However, work on a Soviet-era radar installation on the island continues.
Last week, Putin responded to environmental concerns about using the island, which one activist described as “the polar bear's maternity ward” by promising to protect the local wildlife.
The announcement of the base's opening came on the same day that the Russian military announced it would clean up the Arctic from an accumulation of debris such as discarded Soviet-era aircraft and old fuel barrels.
"The president of our country, commander-in-chief Vladimir Putin, has initiated a large-scale program on clearing the Arctic from all the heritage of past decades or, to be more precise, centuries," state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as telling a meeting at his ministry Tuesday.
"The garbage is mostly discarded aircraft that were produced in the 1960s," along with "thousands of tons of old, expired oil products, tens of thousands of barrels," he said.
Shoigu said cargo ships delivering supplies to military bases on Arctic islands would carry trash on their return trips.
Six weeks ago, Gordeyev announced that Russia had begun laying down prefabricated modular structures on Wrangel Island and Cape Schmidt — located far into the Arctic Circle, near Alaska in the Chukchi Sea. The bases are the first in a series of military installations that will pepper Russia's northern frontier.
These defenses, which will include revitalized Soviet bases as well as new facilities built from scratch, are part of a broader plan initiated under President Vladimir Putin to lay claim to the vast natural resources locked beneath the Arctic shelf.
Russia's claims on the Arctic — and the oil, gas and rare metals tucked below — compete with the ambitions of Canada, Denmark, Norway and the U.S., leading many observers to point to the region as potentially one of the world's most volatile regions.
Wrangel Island, classified as a nature reserve, is the first of these installations to come online, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday. However, work on a Soviet-era radar installation on the island continues.
Last week, Putin responded to environmental concerns about using the island, which one activist described as “the polar bear's maternity ward” by promising to protect the local wildlife.
The announcement of the base's opening came on the same day that the Russian military announced it would clean up the Arctic from an accumulation of debris such as discarded Soviet-era aircraft and old fuel barrels.
"The president of our country, commander-in-chief Vladimir Putin, has initiated a large-scale program on clearing the Arctic from all the heritage of past decades or, to be more precise, centuries," state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as telling a meeting at his ministry Tuesday.
"The garbage is mostly discarded aircraft that were produced in the 1960s," along with "thousands of tons of old, expired oil products, tens of thousands of barrels," he said.
Shoigu said cargo ships delivering supplies to military bases on Arctic islands would carry trash on their return trips.
Read more: Russia's First Arctic Base Opens for Business | Business | The Moscow Times
12/1/13
Poll: Large majority of people polled believe US/NSA will never stop spying on friendly nations
In a recent poll taken by EU-Digest related to the US spying disclosures, including spying on friendly nation and heads of state, the majority of the people polled said they were sure the US/NSA would continue these practices..
The poll also showed a majority of those polled believe the EU is not taking a strong stand again the US growing spying activities..
The latest EU-Digest poll to run throughout the month of December is about the potential hazards of oil exploration in the Arctic.
Should oil exploration be allowed in the Arctic ?
EU-Digest
The poll also showed a majority of those polled believe the EU is not taking a strong stand again the US growing spying activities..
The latest EU-Digest poll to run throughout the month of December is about the potential hazards of oil exploration in the Arctic.
Should oil exploration be allowed in the Arctic ?
EU-Digest
7/6/07
Times Online: Huge drilling programme by the Anglo Dutch Shell heralds scramble for the Arctic - by Steve Hawkes
For the complete report in the Times Online click on this link
Huge drilling programme by the Anglo Dutch Shell heralds scramble for the Arctic - by Steve Hawkes
Shell is preparing its biggest exploration programme in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska for more than a decade, a move that could establish a new frontier for the oil and gas industry. The Anglo-Dutch energy giant expects to start a controversial three-year programme next month with a small armada of ships drilling a dozen wells in the Beaufort Sea 30 miles off the Alaskan coast.
Industry experts have claimed that it could spark a rush into one of the world’s biggest untapped energy reserves.
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