Russia leads race for North Pole oil - Observer

[Eugene]

Source: The Observer

Russia leads race for North Pole oil

The Arctic's untapped resources include huge reserves
of fuel and minerals. Now Moscow has raised tensions
by dispatching an expedition to annex a vast expanse
of the ocean.

Jamie Doward, Robin McKie and Tom Parfitt
Sunday July 29, 2007
The Observer

In the darkest depths of the Arctic Ocean a new Cold War is
brewing. American and British nuclear submarines lurk in the
shadows, preparing for company.

'Why has Britain been sending submarines into Arctic waters?'
asked Rob Huebert, associate director of the Centre for
Military and Strategic Studies in Calgary. 'Because it wants
to retain its capability to deal with the Russian threat.'

Such talk is redolent of a Le Carré novel. But the battle
between the West and Russia over who owns the Arctic has
been building for years. Last week it entered a new phase
when Russia announced it was sending a miniature submarine,
equipped with a team of explorers, to claim a chunk of the
Arctic Ocean the size of Western Europe.

The stakes are high. The ocean is home to vast oil and
mineral reserves as well as massive shoals of fish and
strategically important shipping lanes. 'It could get very
ugly,' Huebert said. 'Nobody knows how much oil and gas is
down there. Shell, for example, is quite pessimistic, but
the likes of Exxon are quite gung-ho. I've seen some people
make the case that up to 18 per cent of the world's oil
reserves are there - that's getting into Saudi Arabia's
league.'

-snip-

Read more: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2137048,00.html

[Captain Angry]

1. All this tells me is that we just have to get off of oil and coal.

The ability is here to get off of it in a timely fashion. Let Canada/Norway/Russia fight over harsh climates for oil rigs.

If we would just spend a fraction of our military budget on the development of new renewable energy sources, energy storage technologies, etc., we could fix so many problems. We could put people to work in research, development, manufacturing, distribution, installation, maintenance, etc.

The for profit system just doesn't lend itself to thinking ahead. Why spend on the future when people are paying top dollar now?

Ack!