NUUK, Greenland -- A First Lady once popularized the phrase, "It takes a village …" and for those of us who care about the future of the Arctic, a village is now playing its part.
Nuuk, a small town on the west coast of Greenland, is where the eight Arctic nations have come together for a ministerial meeting, and Hillary Clinton, who said that, happens now to be the first U.S. Secretary of State to attend the Arctic Council since it was formed in the mid-1990s. To underscore the village part, Nuuk's runway is too short for the Secretary's regular jet, so she and her party (including Alaska's senior Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes) had to switch planes to a military C-130 to make the last 200-mile hop to get here from Washington, D.C. A large percentage of the town's population of 15,000 were lining the street as her car pulled up to the hotel. Some of us on the U.S. delegation are sleeping on a coastal ferry boat in Nuuk's harbor because there are more diplomats here than hotel beds. And local food -- musk ox, reindeer, salmon, shrimp and char are on the menu, so we're definitely in the North.
As lieutenant governor, Gov. Sean Parnell has asked me to be here to represent the State of Alaska's interests as we tie down the first "binding" agreement that has been made in the Arctic -- intended to save lives of Alaskans on our north and west coasts -- by promoting cooperation in Search and Rescue. Also on Thursday's docket is an effort to boost scientific cooperation on monitoring change in the North, which will rely on Alaska scientists and Native observers. A new project is proposed to develop better cooperation in responding to oil spills in the Arctic region. More work with our Arctic neighbors on transportation infrastructure (especially aviation and shipping) is also likely to get the green light, and that could bring more jobs to Alaska.
America is an Arctic nation because Alaska is part of America. A meeting that brings ministers from national capitals to meet in the Arctic makes us feel less misunderstood. The Washington folks here are learning that Alaska is not the only northern spot dealing with high energy costs for power and space heating. Nor are we the only Arctic community working to pay for these new projects with money from development of oil and gas, onshore and off. (Six of the eight Arctic nations have Arctic offshore drilling in the works, and for most, the prospect is as important to their economy as our Arctic prospects are to Alaska.) Most Arctic regions represented here are working on capital intensive, alternative energy projects at home -- from wood and wind heat and power, and new hydro projects, to geothermal projects. Most Arctic regions have a strong reliance on subsistence wildlife and a strong interest in keeping wildlife populations abundant. Iceland and Alaska, for example, are working parallel tracks to show world markets how our fisheries are conducted sustainably, to global standards. On everyone's lips here is a discussion of the growing importance of Arctic minerals, and sea routes.
Besides me, other Alaskans in Nuuk this week include indigenous leaders from the Aleut International Association, the Inuit Circumpolar Council, the Arctic Athabascan Association. Alaskans are involved in various working groups of the Arctic Council, including PAME (Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment), AMAP (the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program), EPPR (Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response) and SDWG (Sustainable Development Working Group).
To get here from Alaska, the shortest route to Greenland was flying further east, through Iceland, where I stopped to pay a call on our ambassador there and Alaska's close friend, President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson. Grimsson is preparing to visit Alaska next month for an Arctic investment conference that begins solstice weekend at Girdwood, and we discussed how to make his trip more productive for both Alaska and Iceland. Iceland's hydropower and geothermal power and space heating methods could help Alaska get to long term, lower cost energy. We sit at opposite "gates" to the Arctic Ocean, and are both eyeing Arctic shipping opportunities. The security role Alaska plays for our country and allies in the North Pacific was played, similarly, for many years by Iceland in the North Atlantic -- and as the U.S. military reorganizes who has what responsibilities for the Arctic, there's a good deal of talk on that issue as well.
The last time I was in Nuuk was for another Arctic meeting, September 1993, and it was a good deal warmer. Greenland's glaciers have scraped her granite margins bare, and memory of climbing around those slippery rock outcrops 18 years ago still makes my feet tingle. Nuuk is still snowy, cold, and blustery so I doubt I'll get to do that hike before my return flight takes off, but the presence here of our very busy Secretary of State tells me the Arctic is on a firmer footing in world affairs. Let's see what these foreign ministers decide after their boat ride tomorrow.
Mead Treadwell is the lieutenant governor of Alaska. Alaska Dispatch encourages a diversity of opinion and community perspectives. The opinions expressed herein are those of the contributor and are not necessarily endorsed or condoned by Alaska Dispatch.