WASHINGTON,
D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski today took to the Senate floor and stressed to
her colleagues the importance of the Arctic, and how the national political
conversation should reflect the realities and possibilities that come along
with that. “I am pleased that ever so slowly, the United States seems to
be waking up to the fact that we are, indeed, an Arctic nation,” Sen. Murkowski
said.
Sen.
Murkowski returned earlier this month from a historic trip to Nuuk, Greenland
where she participated in the 7th Ministerial Meeting of the Arctic
Council – the first ever to be attended by a member of Congress and Secretary
of State. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Secretary of Interior Ken
Salazar, and Sen. Murkowski met with foreign ministers from Canada, Denmark,
Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Russian Federation and representatives of
indigenous groups to discuss a variety of Arctic issues.
In
her floor speech, Murkowski pointed to the international progress being made in
offshore development, saying “While we struggle moving ahead with off-shore
development in Alaskan waters, our neighbors are rapidly moving forward on
Arctic energy development.”
The Senator also pressed her colleagues to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty,
reminding them America is the only Arctic country that hasn’t signed on — and
the costs of such hesitancy when it comes to resource development. “If the United States were to become a party to the Treaty,”
she said “we could lay claim to an area in the Arctic of about 450,000 square
kilometers-or approximately the size of California.”
###