On Monday, ministers from the Artic Council and other countries put pen to paper on a Joint Statement on Climate Change and the Arctic “reaffirm[ing] our commitment to take urgent action to slow the pace of warming in the Arctic.”
But as The Diplomat and the Russian news channel RT report, China, Russia, and India—the world’s first, third, and fourth largest emitters of greenhouse gases, respectively—chose not to sign the declaration, despite warnings from President Obama that the “result of inaction [on climate change] will be catastrophic in economic and security terms.”
Some countries just don’t get it. Or maybe they do.
Politico reports that earlier this year, the foreign ministers of China, India, and Russia “highlighted the potential for cooperation in oil and natural gas production.” The article suggests that while conditions may not be ripe at present, greater co-operation among China, India, and energy-rich Russia could eventually lead to projects to exploit Arctic mineral and energy resources.
The Artic holds vast amounts of oil and natural gas that are up for grabs. In an assessment of Artic energy resources issued in 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the Artic holds about 90 billion barrels of crude oil, 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquids, and 1,669 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. (About 18% of this entire oil and natural gas resource is in Artic Alaska.)
Most of the world is more concerned with providing energy to their people to promote economic growth and eradicate poverty. If some of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters aren’t lifting a finger to cuts greenhouse gas emissions, whatever we do will have a negligible environmental impact, something folks on both sides of the issue agree on. Nevertheless, the administration continues to plow ahead with its economically ruinous and legally suspect Clean Power Plan. Maybe we’re the ones who don’t get it.