''An accessible Arctic: Opportunity of a lifetime''

read more from alaska dispatch....

"Consider the following: The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30 percent of its undiscovered gas will be found in the Arctic, and six of the eight Arctic nations are already engaging in offshore energy exploration. Sea ice retreat has beckoned major new shipping in the North, and Russia sent at least nine vessels via the Northern Sea Route in 2011. That includes a gas condensate tanker which transited the route in a record eight days. I also recently read that Norway gained approval from Russia to ship liquefied natural gas via the Northern Sea Route, right past Alaska’s front door to our traditional customers in Japan. In preparation for this huge opportunity in energy transit, Russia, China, Sweden, Finland, Canada, the European Union, Japan and Korea are beefing up their icebreaker fleets."