WASHINGTON — As Arctic waters open up for oil drilling, commercial shipping and even cruise ships, the United States needs to invest in icebreakers, maps and weather forecasting for the region.
That was the consensus of senators, the Obama administration's Arctic envoy and expert witnesses during a Senate hearing Thursday exploring the "opportunities" at the top of the globe, timed one month before the United States assumes a two-year-chairmanship of the Arctic Council.
"There are plenty of needs up there that have been identified," said Retired Coast Guard Adm. Robert Papp, the State Department's special representative for the Arctic.
One pressing need spotlighted Thursday is for at least one more vessel capable of crashing through thick Arctic ice. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., noted that the United States has just one functional heavy icebreaker — and it's currently in Antarctica.
Another big challenge is simply knowing what lies in the waters around Alaska. Some area maritime charts that show water depths, seafloor topography and navigational hazards date back to Capt. James Cook's third voyage in 1778, Papp noted.
"You can trace the history of this country back to the Federalist Papers that talk about the need for maritime safety and security for the prosperity of this country," Papp told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "Alaska's maritime is opening up; their needs for maritime security are huge."
Cecilia Bitz, an atmospheric scientist with the University of Washington, stressed the importance of predicting weather and ice in the Arctic — which translates to better forecasts for lower latitudes too.
"With continued investments in observation and research, we could forecast optimal shipping routes and give coastal communities advanced notice of offshore sea ice type and the potential for damaging waves," Bitz said.
The United States also needs to pay attention to the people who live in the Arctic, including those in coastal communities threatened by rising waters and melting sea ice, said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
Murkowski floated the idea that revenues from offshore drilling could help pay to relocate communities at risk and pay for other climate mitigation. Businesses might also collaborate with the government to map the sea floor, she suggested.
Charlotte Brower, mayor of Alaska's North Slope Borough, made a plea for sustained oil and gas development, arguing it provides the "economic lifeblood" for native Alaskans whose roads, utilities, homes and even subsistence lifestyles are supported by the activity. Property taxes on oil and gas infrastructure on the North Slope account for more than 97 percent of the borough's revenue.
But, she warned, "our economic realities are changing."
"Oil and gas production on the North Slope is shrinking," she said. "The Trans Alaska Pipeline flows at a third of what it used to be, and the consequences of changing climate coupled with the large costs of building and maintaining vital infrastructure in the Arctic are overwhelming to the state and local government."
Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, focused on the United States' continued absence as a signatory to the decades-old United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Although other nations with Arctic waters have signed on to the treaty, it has not been approved in the United States Senate, where some Republicans have raised concerns about subjugating U.S. sovereignty by agreeing to be bound by the international accord.
Without joining the convention, the United States cannot submit claims to expand its rights to the outer continental shelf and the oil and gas resources under it. The current boundary is drawn 200 nautical miles from shore.
"Becoming a party to the (convention) would allow the United States to fully secure its rights to the continental shelf off the coast of Alaska, which is likely to extend out to more than 600 nautical miles," Papp said. "We don't have standing to be able . . . to lay our claim down and have it validated and then go to negotiations with the bordering countries."
"Meanwhile," noted King, "the other bordering nations — particularly Russia — are staking claims that are extensive."
The stakes are high, given the mineral resource potential of the Arctic, where the U.S. Geological Survey predicts nearly 1,700 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 90 billion barrels of oil have yet to be discovered.
Concerns about climate change served as a backdrop for the hearing, with Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., wryly observing that oil companies are poised to benefit from the melting ice cap and the increase in ice-free ocean during summer.
"Burning fossil fuels is creating more opportunity to find more fossil fuels to burn," he said.