So I'm doing my news gathering last week and -- as I'm prone to do-- I'm checking out sources from most of the countries except America, whose press I've come to so thoroughly distrust I don't want to fritter my time in any futile exercise trying to read between the propaganda lines.

I stumble upon the Pravda....OK, it is the Pravda, but even so-- I find interesting new information I'd not yet heard about elsewhere right there on the Pravda site. 

Take a look what I found in this discussion about the Arctic regions in the North of Russia:

The Russian government urgently needs to determine the basis of its state policy in the Arctic region. To make matters worse, politicians will probably have to face a serious problem from abroad too. It has recently transpired that the US administration plans to launch an extensive invasion in the Arctic region in order to oust potential partners from the oil-rich territory. The USA particularly plans to build airbases in Alaska, while US oil giants intend to develop the Arctic shelf. To mask the intrusion and make it look like a peaceful initiative, the USA would be ready to render humanitarian assistance to Russia to improve the living standard of "the impoverished northern nations of Russia."

         Pravda Link

Whoa!!??  Wait a minute!  Anwar-- like that slimy "Alien" creature that would not die no matter how many times you kill it-- keeps creeping back into Congress and having more lives than any cat could hope for.  Why is that?  Every time we think we've signed the final Anwar petition, along comes another email in screaming capital letters threatening that Anwar drills are poised for attack yet again if we don't sign immediately...no taking time to eat or return phone calls or finsh work projects.   WE MUST SIGN NOW!!! 

We all know it would take a decade for any serious recoup from Anwar, after the lengthy establishment required simply to put physical structures in place.  And we've all been told that even that would be skimpy in comparison with our energy needs.  From the Peak Oil site:

1.  According of the Department of Energy, drilling in ANWR will only lower oil prices by less than fifty cents;

2.  ANWR contains 10 billion barrels of oil - or about the amount the US consumes in a little more than a year.

3.  As with all oil projects, ANWR will take about 10 years to come online. Once it does, its production will peak at 875,000 barrels per day - but not till the year 2025. By then the US is projected to need a whopping 35 million barrels per day while the world is projected to need 120 million barrels per day.

So why does it keep resurfacing, as if it could possibly make some real difference to our energy policy? Why won't this monster die? And why do I suddenly feel like Sigourney Weaver in a slow motion version of Act III?

Maybe the Pravda knows something we don't?  Maybe there is an end goal here that involves not merely Alaskan on and off shore drilling, but expansion into Russian or other nation's Arctic drilling?  It's not outside the realm of possibility.  I'm just surprised I hadn't heard anything else about it....even as speculation. 

It would explain a few geopolitical quandries if it's true.  It might also explain why Senator Ted -Not My Bridge!- Stevens is such an incorrigible grouch each time Anwar threatens to go undrilled. After all...Why would anyone be so very gung-ho to have their own state's wildnerness areas raped for so little return?  Not having yet researched the issue--only seeing the tip of the iceberg, so to speak-- I decide to explore further.

Go here -- to see a map of how close we (Alaska) are to the Russian Arctic region and to read about the little squabble that appears unresolved over some of the islands lying in between in the Bering Sea.  (Attention MAP GEEKS-- this is for you!)  The link is a 2003 U S State Department article that discusses the still disputed 1990 Maritime Boundary Agreement between the United States and the the Soviet Union. 
 

In the mid 90's Texas A & M University went over there to troll the waters, conducting a study to measure the effect of radioactive nuclear waste from the Cold war.  It appears in 2003, the Brits came up with a $30 million dollar clean up plan for the polluted seas of the region. 

Not to be left out of any global plundering....China got into the picture last year and built what they are calling a "scientific exploration station" on an island of Norway's --  But of "paramount importance" was their installation of a satellite observation station in the Arctic.  This is how the Chinese paper describes it:

"--it is helpful for China to shake off dependence to other country's satellite navigation and orientation system. It is crucial for setting up China's independent satellite tracking and orbit fixing systems.  Once completed, the Arctic satellite observation station, along with the satellite observation stations of the Great Wall Station and the Zhongshan Station at Antarctica, forms important part of China's independent satellite observation and navigation system, which will help improve accuracy of orientation for China-launched low orbit satellite."     

Then on China's heels, along comes Canada!  Everyone is on the oil/gas sniff now and ready to take action in the Polar regions.  It appears we also have some fuzzy border arguments with our Nothern neighbors that they are out to conquer and claim.  This from the CBC:

Canada starts seabed mapping to claim underwater petroleum in Arctic
 Sat, 03 Jul 2004 23:01:33

YELLOWKNIFE - Canada is trying a new tactic in the 30-year-old dispute with the United States over the boundary under the Beaufort Sea.  By mapping the seabed using radar, the government will take a step towards establishing sovereignty under international law. The 2004 budget allocated $51 million over 10 years to map the Arctic continental shelf.

"The data collected will lead to a formal submission under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and help secure Canada's sovereignty in the High Arctic," the budget said.

Canada claims the border under the Beaufort Sea runs straight from the Alaska-Northwest Territories border. The U.S. says it angles east from the shoreline. At stake is a huge volume of sub-sea oil and gas. The U.S. recently offered four development licences to American companies in the disputed area. (Ooops!)

The Department of Foreign Affairs responded with a diplomatic note saying Canada rejects the U.S. effort to claim jurisdiction, a spokesperson said.

 

That was in July, then one month later we find this:

August 12, 2004 - Paul Martin Declares Canadian Sovereignty Over the Arctic -
While talking to people about the possibility of a National Drug Plan in Canada, Prime Minister Paul Martin twice repeated the statement, "The world should understand this: that Canada does exercise sovereignty over the North," and that military exercises by Canadian troops in the area were appropriate. As global warming begins to open sea lanes, the rights to this region become increasing important.

 

And this, one week later: 

Military To Test Unmanned Surveillance Plane -

Canada is planning to utilize UAVs to increase their ability to keep Canada's coastline under surveillance. These drone aircraft will be under remote control. The Canadian Government is planning on testing the first of these aircraft in the next week.

And then this:  

Laying Claim To The North - Toronto Star- August 30, 2004

The Canadian military is conducting military exercises and meeting with native peoples throughout the North preparing to demonstrate Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic.

Suddenly, here comes Denmark-- all pouty because she doesn't see why the Danes shouldn't share in the spoils!  It's becoming like a modern version of Pirates of the Sea - arrrrrrrr...

Denmark to Claim North Pole, Hopes to Strike Oil

October 11, 2004 — By Reuters

COPENHAGEN Denmark — Denmark aims to claim the North Pole and hunt for oil in high Arctic regions that may become more accessible because of global warming, the Science Ministry said recently.

It said Denmark would send an expedition to try to prove the seabed beneath the Pole was a natural continuation of Greenland, the world's biggest island and a Danish territory whose northern tip is just 725 km (450 miles) from the Pole.  Science Minister Helge Sander said success would give Denmark access to "new resources such as oil and natural gas." The potential return would outweigh the 150 million crowns (US$25 million) that Denmark has allocated to the investigation.

The Danish bid rests on a U.N. convention allowing coastal nations to claim rights to offshore seabed resources. Countries that ratify it have 10 years to prove they have a fair claim to the offshore territory and its resources.  "First we have to make the scientific claim," said Science Ministry official Thorkild Meedom. "After that there will be a political process with the other countries."

Other claimants to the area, with the Pole itself, include Russia, Canada, and Norway. The United States may also make a claim.

So, should we hear something on CNN or MSNBC in the next few months about either a Zarqawi sighting on the Arctic shelf, or a Mulimist Islamist Jihadist watercraft movement in the Bering straits, or-- even more likely-- maybe a Chechnyan uprising in the Northernmost regions of Russia....well, I won't be too terribly surprised. It could mean we will need to bring in our massive modern icebreakers, (it seems the Russians' have all succumbed to the icebreaker junkyards) to clear the way for some freedom to march right into the frigid Arctic Zones. The Pravda states we will be claiming some humanitarian rationale for our next moves in the region.  Let's watch and see.