Matt's overall concept of Arctic cooperation is a sane alternative to current policy. However, I do have concerns about what kind of development and whether it can be done with strict government regulations.
The Alberta tar sands have decimated huge tracts of land. The Keystone XL pipeline was essentially a corporate welfare project that ran roughshod through the Ogallala aquifer ignoring Lakota tribal rights and contamination issues. China and Russia may have efficient, authoritarian controls but both the U.S. and Canada show no inclination that liberal democracies are capable of respecting environmental issues except as empty rhetoric.
Matt's overall concept of Arctic cooperation is a sane alternative to current policy. However, I do have concerns about what kind of development and whether it can be done with strict government regulations.
The Alberta tar sands have decimated huge tracts of land. The Keystone XL pipeline was essentially a corporate welfare project that ran roughshod through the Ogallala aquifer ignoring Lakota tribal rights and contamination issues. China and Russia may have efficient, authoritarian controls but both the U.S. and Canada show no inclination that liberal democracies are capable of respecting environmental issues except as empty rhetoric.