Scramble for Arctic Black Gold
With his "giant leap for mankind," Neil Armstrong dealt a defining blow to the Soviet Union in the tight space race. The Soviet Union never truly recovered from that blow. However, Russia is currently in a new race, a race to appropriate a large swath of the melting Arctic. Unlike the Cold War era race it seems as if they might have a better showing this time around.
In 2007, instead of travelling two hundred thousand miles to the Moon to plant a flag, Russian explorers travelled fourteen thousand feet below the North Pole to plant its own flag there. Unlike the United States, which probably planted the flag on the Moon to symbolize their accomplishment, Russia's message was different. Just as European Colonial powers of the 19th century realized that there were untapped resources in Africa, 21st century Arctic countries realize that there are vast untapped natural resources, namely oil and gas, in the Arctic. The actual planting of the Russian flag, though a technological feat due to the great depths of the sea floor, has no legal bearing. Nevertheless, it did not stop the Canadian Foreign Minister from quipping, "This isn't the fifteenth century . . . [y]ou can't go around the world and just plant flags and say [w]e're claiming this territory." It is no surprise that Canada had a response. It is one of the countries, along with Denmark, Norway, and the United States, that has a potential claim to the riches of the Arctic.
Just a few days ago, Russia held a large Arctic conference with some of the world's leading ecologists, experts, and politicians of the affected nations to discuss the social, economic, and environmental issues affecting the Arctic region. The first part of the conference was dedicated to environmental concerns of the Arctic region. However, the conversation quickly turned to the sheer amount of wealth that the region holds. For example, Russia estimates that the Russian Arctic territories alone may contain up to 100 billion tons of oil, which is roughly 735 billion barrels. If added to the current proven oil reserves of Russia, it would total around 820 billion barrels of oil, surpassing Saudi Arabia with its 265 billion barrels. That would also give Russia a total oil reserve larger than the top five oil-producing countries of Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait, combined!
I know that this might be a cruel statement to make, especially given the last few weeks of the unbearable heat wave that we have been experiencing in Washington DC, but global warming might actually be a boon for Russia. As temperatures rise, many regions that contain natural resources that have been buried under miles of ice are now becoming more accessible. However, with the stakes as high as ever to get out of the global recession, Russia is not wasting any time. They are pushing forward with ambitious projects to harvest these resources. The country is currently constructing immense, floating nuclear power plants in order to harvest the oil, with hope that they will not have to waste any oil in the harvesting process. The mere idea of having floating nuclear power plants seems frightening enough. However, considering Russia's spotty safety record when it comes to nuclear power, it is even more terrifying. Let's see: Kursk Nuclear Submarine explosion, Chernobyl, weapons-grade uranium, underwater saboteurs and rocket vulnerable strikes, and terrorists: oh my!
It seems like this is a very costly enterprise, both in actual monetary cost, and the extent of any possible tragedy that may befall this project. It is not a surprise to me that many scientists have called this project either a "floating Chernobyl," or a "case of Homer Simpson meets the Titanic." Vladimir Chuprov, energy projects chief for Greenpeace Russia, said, "It is better to invest in solar and wind energy rather than produce time bombs." I wholeheartedly agree with him. I will also add that I hope that this renewed scramble for resources in the dawn of the 21st century does not produce the same disastrous results as the ill-fated scramble for African resources at the dawn of the 20th century. That unfortunately not only wrecked the African continent, but plunged the world into two World Wars. I hope that the next "giant leap for mankind" will not sink us to the depths where oil is found, but lift us with the clean energy of the wind and illuminate the path forward with reliable sun energy.