Arctic Economics

Which is ahead, the Alaska or the Mackenzie gas pipeline?

The Canadian Industry Minister thinks the MacKenzie gas pipeline has a head start over the Alaska gas pipeline: MacKenzie Pipeline Enjoys "Head Start."

But what's this about the environment?: Arctic pipeline could threaten wildlife reserves: report:

The Harper government has been warned that the ecological "footprint" of the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline on an Arctic bird sanctuary that protects migratory birds and at-risk species such as polar bears could exceed the threshold deemed acceptable by Environment Canada, newly released documents reveal.

The old aerial polar bear hunt in Alaska

From the late 1940s until the early 1970s guides in Alaska took their clients sport hunting for polar bears from airplanes.  At times the planes were used to herd the bears towards the waiting hunters. 

The hunt and some of its economics were described by U.S. delegations to early (1965-1974) international meetings on the status of the polar bear.  I think that much of the following material was prepared by Jack Lentfer, a government bear biologist who attended these meetings. 

By way of orientation, the hunts were originating in six or seven small communities from the tip of Alaska's nose, and up along its forehead, and being flown into the Chukchi Sea and the western Beaufort Sea.  Little Diomede Island, which you will read about, is right in the Bering Strait.

The aerial sport harvest began sometime in the late 1940s.  Before that most hunting had been by Alaska Natives for subsistence and income (Polar Bear Management in Alaska; Jack Lentfer, Third International Conference on Bears, 1974):

Alaska's Senior Senator Indicted

Alaska's senior U.S. Senator, Ted Stevens, was indicted last week for failing to report gifts he received from the oil field services firm Veco and persons connected with it.  He wasn't indicted for bribery, or failure to pay income taxes on the gifts. 

The indictment (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. THEODORE F. STEVENS) describes the gifts in some detail.  Between May 1999 and August 2007, Stevens received gifts from Veco and others connected with Veco that:

Alaska Backs TransCanada's Gas Pipeline

Both Houses of the Alaska legislature have passed the Governor's proposal to back the TransCanada gas pipeline, running 1,715 miles from Alaska's North Slope to southern Alberta.  Here's the route:

 

What's the Object of the Race for the Arctic?

Sheila McNulty points out that the recent US Geological Survey report on the size of possible undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Arctic suggests that the central Arctic isn't very interesting: Deep freeze entices energy hungry world:

Everyone wants a piece of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Parties on both sides of the U.S. polar bear listing debate are lining up to challenge the Interior Department's decision to list the Beaufort and Chukchi Sea populations as threatened.

Jessica Ferrell of the Marten Law Group, an environmental law firm, explains what's aggravating who: Polar Opposites: State of Alaska, Hunting and Environmental Groups Challenge Polar Bear Listing.

A World Without Overfishing?

For many summers non-Native sport fishermen have flooded into the homeland of the Yup'ik Eskimo in Western Alaska, to fish for salmon, a variety of trout, and grayling.  They may catch ten to twenty fish a day, but they express a strong conservation ethic by generally practicing catch-and-release fishing.

Why should the Yup'ik care?  The sport fishermen bring cash and, since they are practicing catch-and-release fishing, the resource - which the Yup'ik use for subsistence - isn't being damaged. 

But Ann Fienup-Riordan, an anthropologist working in the area in the 1970s and '80s, found that they did care, and that the aggravation in certain Yup'ik circles went beyond the normal contempt of locals for tourists. The sport fishermen were violating traditional Yup'ik idea of conservation, which required retention, rather than catch-and-release.  By practicing catch-and-release, the sport fishermen were actually threatening the future availability of fish.

Can We Bring Alaska North Slope Gas to Market With LNG Carriers?

Aker Arctic Technologies Arctic-class LNG carrier concept.

Are Arctic-class liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers a reasonable alternative to pipelines for transporting Alaska North Slope gas?  Unlikely, thinks Jim Craig of the Minerals Management Service, as reported by Petroleum News: Icebreaker LNG carriers for Arctic Alaska gas an interesting but challenging concept (June 15, 2008).  Among other things: